One Perfect Moment
by Danni1989
Summary: Set after 3:10 The New Deal.  Damon and Elena deal with the aftermath of the kiss at the end of the episode.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, I really shouldnt have written this, but after watching the new episode I had to. the ending was so perfect and so beautiful I didnt want to change it at all. So instead i wrote a continuation of that, and what could possibly happen. As of right now its a one shot but if enough people want it to continue i will. As always let me know what you think. and let me know if you want it to continue. Enjoy.

PS I dont own anything. all the characters are owned by LJ Smith and the CW.

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><p>It was all falling apart. Jeremy was being compelled to leave Mystic Falls, possibly forever. Klaus was willing to attack and kill everyone she knows. Stefan was on some obscure mission and apparently he wasn't entirely evil again. Alaric had almost died. Jeremy had decapitated a hybrid on the front porch. Klaus had Rebecca. Yes, everything was definitely falling apart. But then something amazing happened, Damon had been rambling on about feeling guilty and then he had turned to leave. But then he turned back and mentioned something about feeling guilty and then he kissed her. It was soft but passionate, and she couldn't believe how good his lips felt on hers. Even the first time she had kissed him it didn't feel like this. Maybe that was because at that point he was dying and he never reciprocated the kiss and she hadn't wanted him too. When he pulled away he turned and walked off the porch, murmuring a "good night" as he went. She stood there for a couple moments as she thought about what just happened. That kiss had everything in it, but at the moment she couldn't even think about a relationship with anybody. But that one kiss told Elena that everything he had been saying for the past year or so had been true. She did feel for him, and she was just too afraid to confront that. She watched his car drive away, and then she finally walked inside.<p>

"You talked with Damon for quite a while out there." Alaric noted.

"Yeah." she said not wanting to divulge details.

"What did you talk about?" Alaric asked, still not entirely trusting the vampire.

"Just stuff, and then something funny happened." she admitted.

"Let me guess you discovered something that you felt about him?" he asked.

"Kind of." she said.

"Elena what happened? If he took advantage of you, I swear to God..." he said trailing off.

"He didn't take advantage of me. He kissed me but it awoke feelings inside me. Feeling that I didn't know I had." she said.

"Are you going to tell him?" Ric asked.

"Not yet. I want to see what he plans to make of this. If he chooses to ignore this like it never happened, then I will too." she said trying to convince herself more than Ric.

"Good luck with that." he said as Jeremy came down the stairs with his suitcase in hand.

"I'll be going now. I'm staying with some friends out of town for a while. They enrolled me in school and all. I just need to get away." he said.

"Alright. I'm going to miss you Jer." she said hugging her brother.

"I'll miss you too. But you know, I need a fresh start. This will be good for me." he said.

"I know it will. Good luck Jer." she said.

"Thanks you to." he said before shaking Ric's hand and walking out of the house.

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><p>"I said I was going to help you Stefan. You actually have to tell me what your plan is." Damon said throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation while he was talking to Stefan a couple days after "the kiss." Elena hadn't brought it up, so he opted not to either.<p>

"I will tell you when I have a plan Damon. By the way, how's Elena?" he asked.

"Why do you care?" he asked.

"I'll always care for her Damon. Is she safe?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's safe. As safe as she can get with a maniacal hybrid after her. Now back to the topic at hand, what is your plan? I don't think you're being entirely honest with me." he said.

"You keep your part of the bargain and keep Elena out of this, and I'll do mine." he said.

"Oh yeah, because your plans always work out so well." he said sarcastically.

"Maybe they don't, but this time I have the leverage. Not Klaus." he said. Damon ran a hand through his hair in frustration, working with Stefan was far more difficult than he imagined. And that frustration on top of the frustration of Elena avoiding the kiss, was turning into a bad combination.

"Damon, are you here?" both vampires heard a human girl call out.

"I thought you said she didn't know." Stefan hissed.

"I don't know how she found out." Damon replied.

"Damon. Bonnie told me you were working with Stefan. Where are you?" she called.

"I'm down here." he said. A few seconds later she emerged.

"Hello Stefan. Damon we need to talk." she said.  
>"And now is a good time for whatever this discussion has to do with?" he questioned.<p>

"This talk has been a few days coming. We need to talk about what happened on my porch the other night." she said vaguely.

"And what exactly happened on Elena's porch the other night?" Stefan asked curiously.

"Can we talk about this somewhere else? Like outside?" she asked not wanting to discuss the kiss in front of Stefan.

"Yeah." he said. "I'll be right back Stef." he said before following Elena up the stairs in the old house.

"You want to talk about this now?" he demanded once they were outside.

"Why didn't you mention it? You initiated it, and yet you ignore what happened. Was it meant to make me want more? Make me want more? I've waited for two days for you to do something, or even say something. But nothing. What am I supposed to do with that?" she demanded, angry tears forming in her eyes.

"It was just a kiss Elena." he said trying to protect himself from the crushing hurt he would go through when she let him down.

"Just a kiss? Damon that was anything but just a kiss. Tell me you didn't feel it too?" she demanded.

"I didn't feel anything." he lied, knowing that on some level she was still hung up on Stefan.

"So when you told me you loved me, you were lying? All those times I could see your love in your eyes, you were lying? Everything that we've had for the past few weeks have all been lies?" she asked the anger turning to sadness.

"I guess so. I better get back to Stefan. Go home Elena." he said. She looked at him with tear filled eyes and he felt his undead heart clench. He hated lying to her, but on some tangible, deep level she still belonged to Stefan. She waited around until she was sure he wasn't going to turn back before returning to her car and driving home.

"So you kissed Elena? And it meant nothing to you?" Stefan questioned disbelieving.

"I kissed Elena and it meant everything to me." he corrected.

"So why did you tell her it meant nothing. That everything you've been through together, meant nothing." he asked genuinely confused why his brother seemed to be giving up the girl.

"Because she still belongs to you. She is yours Stefan. You weren't here for the first little while you were gone. She was so desperate to save YOU. She was so convinced that you were still you that we did everything to save you." Damon said angrily.

"She belongs to me? Damon how blind are you? I thought you were the brother that actually understands women. She hates me. And I heard that conversation that you had with her. It wasn't just a kiss to her. She said that a couple times. She loved the Stefan that was controlled and on human blood. The Stefan that hid his true nature from her. She cant love this one. She wont love me. You've been nothing but honest with her from the very beginning. Ever think that unlike Katherine, she made a choice and this time it wasn't me?" he lectured.

"Why are you lecturing me? Don't you want her?" he asked incredulously.

"No. I don't want her anymore. And I don't love her. And most of all she doesn't love me." he said honestly.

"If this is another one of those "Stefan must save Damon" moments you have, you can shove it right now. I wont go through life being the second choice. Let's just get back to work." he said.

"One more question then we can forget this conversation. Do you truly love her?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, but she cant know that." he said.

"Why the hell not? Damon, Elena chose you, maybe you should have faith in that. That's what will keep you alive this time. Her love has kept you alive for quite a while now. I could see it, why cant you?" he asked.

"Let's just get to work." Damon said ready for this conversation to end.

Elena drove home with tears streaming down her face. She couldn't believe that once she fell for him, he didn't care anymore. Or maybe he never cared. She didn't know. When she successfully parked the car she finally let the sobs come out and even more tears to fall. She banged on the steering wheel trying to release some of the hurt and anger she had inside her. She heard a soft knock on her passenger side window and looked up to see the concerned face of Alaric. She wiped her eyes and got out.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I went to confront Damon about the kiss today. And he just brushed it off. I told him that it wasn't just a kiss to me. That it meant something. That he meant something. And he said the kiss meant nothing to him and that everything we've been through meant nothing. It hurts so bad. Why is it that I realize what I want when I cant have it anymore?" she asked.

"Come inside." Alaric said wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulder and leading her inside.

"What's wrong with me? Why doesn't he want me anymore?" she asked.

"There is nothing wrong with you. And I've never understood Damon. Everything he does always has a reason, but no one else ever understands said reasons." he explained.

"I'm going upstairs to lie down. I just want this day to end. I'm hurt. I'm humiliated. And I kind of think my heart is broken." she said.

"Go rest." he said. She nodded and walked upstairs to her room where she picked up her phone and deleted Damon's number from it. She vowed that she wouldn't call him, that she didn't want to see him. She hated that she was acting like almost every other brokenhearted girl, deleting the guys number from her phone. She glanced at the phone and wondered if there was anyone she could call to talk to. She could call Bonnie but she was busy, she was hurt because of the end of her relationship with Jeremy and Elena didn't want to dump her problems on her too. She could call Caroline, but she had her own relationship drama to worry about. In short the only one she wanted to talk to was the one that broke her heart. She was going to have to deal with this one on her own.

"So the plan is that you're just going to continue living your life the way you are, and I am going to continue trying to get this coffin open with Bonnie's help." Stefan said.

"Sounds crafty. What am I supposed to do in the meantime?" he demanded.

"Protect Elena." he suggested.

"Well yeah. But there is a small chance that she may not want to speak to me." he said.

"Maybe you should talk to her. Tell her that you lied and that the kiss meant something." Stefan offered, speaking to him as if he was stupid.

"The kiss didn't mean something. It meant everything Stefan." he said.

"What kiss?" Bonnie asked coming down the stairs armed with a pile of grimoires.

"Damon kissed Elena and then lied to her." Stefan said conspiratorially.

"What? Tell me more." she demanded.

"She came by today to confront him about it. And she proceeded to tell him that it meant something to her. So then Damon in all his profound intelligence told her that it meant nothing. Thus Elena is sad, or mad, not sure which and I really don't care. And Damon is suffering. And he thinks Elena is a martyr." he said.

"Why would you tell her the kiss meant nothing?" Bonnie demanded glaring at Damon.

"Because she doeskin belong to me." he said tired of explaining this.

"She doesn't belong to anyone. She is more than capable of deciding who she loves. And if she chose you, you would be stupid to ignore that." Bonnie said.

"I know that. But I cant be the second choice." he said angrily. He had already explained this to Stefan, but now he was explaining it to Bonnie.

"I don't think you are. Elena gave up on Stefan. She decided that he is a lost cause and not deserving of her love. She's moved on and chose you. For some reason Elena thinks you're worth it. Maybe you should let Elena make her own choice." Bonnie said.

"So what am I supposed to do. I burned that bridge." he said frustrated, mainly because he knew they were right.

"Maybe you should start with "I'm sorry I lied to you Elena. The kiss meant everything." Stefan said.

"Oh yeah, because its so easy for me to apologize to someone." he said bitterly.

"Would you leave so we can get to work. You're distracting us." Bonnie said testily. He walked out of the house and got in his car. He decided that he was going to make the attempt. He was going to put himself on the line one last time. He drove over to her house and decided to knock on the door. He decided that if no one answered he would climb in through her bedroom window. He knew she was home, he could hear her sniffles and the odd sob coming from her room. A couple seconds after he knocked Ric answered the door.

"Oh its you." he said.

"It's me." he answered.

"You better fix that. You caused that. I've never seen her more broken. What the hell would tell you to tell her that kiss meant nothing. It meant something and you know it." he said.

"Can I go up and talk to her?" he asked.

"You better. If you leave and she's more miserable than she is now, there will be hell to pay Damon." he said sounding like the father she's desperately needed the past few years.

Instead of knocking he just walked into the room. She looked over her shoulder from where she was laying down on her side with her teddy bear cuddled up to her chest.

"What do you want? I don't want to see you." she said turning away.

"We need to talk." he said.

"I don't want to talk to you either." she said.

"Then don't. Just listen. I'm not good at this." he said.

"I can see that. What do you want Damon? Haven't you caused me enough pain for one day?" she asked.

"I don't want to cause you anymore pain. I want to fix it." he said.

"How do you plan on doing that?" she asked.

"I want to tell you that I'm sorry. And everything I said was a lie." he said.

"What was?" she asked.

"When I said the kiss meant nothing. It did mean something. It meant everything. And when I said I was lying about loving you. That was a lie too. Everything I said was a lie." he told her.

"Why would you lie to me?" she asked.

"Because in my mind you still belong to Stefan. It will always be Stefan. It was actually Stefan than persuaded me to come here, after he talked about it all day after you left. He told me that it wasn't him anymore. That he was relinquishing any hold he had over you. And that I was stupid to break your heart. And tell you that you meant nothing. He was right of course." he said.

"I do not belong to Stefan. I don't belong to you either. But I wanted to." she said.

"Wanted to?" he asked.

"You hurt me Damon. You said I meant nothing to you and that hurt. Why cant you just sit back and enjoy that fact that I chose you after you kissed me. That the kiss awoke something inside me that I never knew existed. That somehow in that one innocent kiss made me realize something I've been denying for a long time now. I'm in love with you Damon." she said.

"I love you too Elena. And I'm so sorry I hurt you again. I always do things to hurt you but yet you always come back." he said.

"Its because I care about you. And I know its not going to be easy, but I want to try this with you. You are by far the hardest person I've ever had to get close to. But I want to try." she said.

"You do?" he said aware he sounded a bit like a stuttering idiot.

"I do." she said. Not sure of what she wanted him to do, he waited to let her make the first move. She stood up from her bed and walked over to him where she wrapped her arms around his waist and burrowed her head in his chest. Her lifted her head and looked into his cobalt blue eyes.

"Kiss me Damon." she said softly. He couldn't deny her anything at this point. He just leaned in and captured her lips between his, kissing her softly but yet passionately. When they finally broke apart he smiled down at her.

"Does this mean we're dating?" he asked smirking.

"I don't know. I don't know how to categorize this. So how about we just let it go and let the chips fall where they may." she suggested.

"So we're not dating, but we're together. And we just want to see where it goes from there?" he asked.

"That sounds like the best solution." she agreed.

"Can I say "I love you"?" he asked.

"You better." she said.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay due to popular demand here is another chapter. Now a couple questions for all of you, 1) this could go both ways, it could turn into a full fledged story or it could be one 5 chapters and under, what do you think? and 2) should the rating change to M at some point for some good old fashioned smut? I wasnt sure about that one. Hmmm, I have both written. I just dont know which to post. Let me know what you think on my two questions and the chapter. Hope you enjoy. Reviews are love people.

PS I own nothing.

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><p>Things weren't getting better. Klaus was getting angrier and angrier each day and she couldn't convince Damon and Stefan to give him his family back. It wouldn't be long until he lashed out again. Who would it be this time? Ric? Caroline? Bonnie? Damon? At least Jeremy was safe, she thought to herself. She couldn't let anything happen to anyone she loved. But yet she couldn't tell Klaus where the coffins were. If he found them, and found out that Damon was involved he would kill him. And she couldn't stand it if Damon died. She needed him. She needed him even more now after they came to their new agreement. They were together, but their relationship had no labels, since they didn't know how to categorize them. She was sitting on the couch in the living room with Ric, both feeling the absence of Jeremy acutely.<p>

"I miss him. I'm glad he's gone. But I miss him, he's my little brother." Elena said.

"I know. I miss him too. But its good hes safe." Ric agreed. Their little moment was broken when Klaus walked in the front door causally.

"Find Stefan yet?" he asked casually but there was a not so hidden threat nestled in his words.

"No. I don't know where he is." she lied.

"I want my family back." he said.

"I don't know where Stefan is. I don't talk to him." she said.

"And where is Damon? Maybe he would know. I'm sure I could get the answer out of him." he said.

"Do not hurt Damon. He doesn't know where he is either." Elena said.

"Do not worry. You find Stefan and your family shall remain safe for now. But it seems you need a bit of a reminder of what can happen if you don't do as I say." he said as he walked over and snapped Ric's neck in front of Elena.

"No!" she screamed out as Ric fell to the ground dead.

"Now we both know he's going to come back but I could do that just as easily to one of your other human friends who do not have those nifty rings to keep them alive. Find Stefan." he said before leaving the house. She fell to Ric's side and sat with him until he woke up. He woke up disoriented and confused but he quickly remembered what had happened.

"Ric are you alright?" she asked worried.

"I'm fine. He's getting angrier." Alaric stated.

"I know. I don't know what to do. I have to go talk to Damon." she said standing up.

"Okay. I'll be fine." he said once he saw the worried look on her face.

"Alright. I should be back soon." she said leaving the house.

"Stefan what is the plan? Or do you plan to keep taunting Klaus with his family but never intending to deliver. Elena is in danger. Stefan." Damon said angrily.

"that's your job Damon. Protect Elena. I will take care of the rest. In order to beat the villain you have to be a better villain." he said smiling.

"I don't care Stefan. Elena is in danger and I finally got her to give me a chance and you are seriously screwing that up." he said.

"And that is so not my problem." Stefan said turning to Bonnie who was listening intently to the two brother's conversation. She was oddly surprised by the change in the brothers personalities, before she would have automatically sided with Stefan if she had to choose, but now she wasn't so sure. Damon was obviously tamed by Elena and he wasn't too awful to be around. She still hated him because he was a vampire but the hatred wasn't as deep as before.

"Damn it Elena's here." Damon said turning away from Stefan.

"Remember what we discussed." Stefan said.

"I know. Bonnie can you do it?" he asked deciding that Stefan was right about Elena not being able to be here for any of this. The less she knows the better for her, the less danger she can be in from Klaus.

"Damon." she called as she came down the stairs.

"In here." he called reluctantly. She came in and immediately wrapped her arms around his waist. This was still a new development for them, her running to him immediately.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Klaus was at the house again." she said.

"What did he do?" he asked worried.

"He's getting angry. He killed Ric this time. Granted Ric comes back but still it could have been anyone. He wants his family back. Cant we just give them to him?" she begged.

"No Elena we cannot give Klaus his family back. I enjoy being the villain, and I am going to out-villain Klaus. His family is my upper hand. I'm not giving that up. If anyone dies that's not my problem, its Damon's. He wanted to help." he said.

"How can you be so cold?" she asked.

"Human blood does that for you. I don't care anymore. Spend time with the brother that cares." he said.

"you're an ass." she spat at Stefan.

"Come on, you should get home. I'll walk you out to your car." he said.

"Cant you try to get him to change his mind?" she asked.

"No. He's right Elena. This is our upper hand. Its the best shot we have." he told her.

"But I don't like it. Everyone I love is in danger right now except Jeremy." she said.

"I know, but it'll get better. I'll protect you." he said walking her up the stairs. He shot Bonnie a look and she nodded. Once they had left the house Bonnie went upstairs and put muttered a couple incantations before returning to the coffins.

"Damon you don't get it. He went after Ric this time. He went after him to send me a message. I'm getting blamed for this, because I am supposed to be finding Stefan. I keep lying to him telling him I don't know where he is, because you're there with him." she said.

"I know that. But it will all work out. Me and Stefan are on the same team and with Bonnie and the witches we're unstoppable. Klaus could walk into that house and never find his family. It'll all be okay. Just go home." he said pushing her towards her car.

"Don't just cut me off Damon. I don't want to go home. I want to help you guys. I feel like I'm on the outside again. My life is at risk too, and I'm just sitting at home like a target." she exclaimed.

"Go home Elena." he said before turning to walk back towards the house. As he knew she would Elena followed him back and once he was through the door Bonnie finished her chanting and Elena was blocked from the house.

"You put a spell on the house to keep me out?" she questioned angrily.

"I'm sorry Elena." Bonnie said.

"I'm not mad at you per se. I know who's idea this was." she said glaring at Damon.

"It was both his and Stefan's. Stefan said to find a way to keep you out and Damon thought of this." she said. Knowing it was futile to fight her way inside she turned and stalked away. It was clear in the way she walked away that she was angry.

"Good luck." Bonnie said to Damon as they walked back down the stairs to where Stefan was waiting.

"So Elena is barred out?" he asked.

"Yeah. And I will be lucky if she ever speaks to me again." he said.

"I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not really. So back to work. I'm gonna call Klaus again." he said.

"Must you taunt him? He's gonna target Elena again." Damon yelled.

Elena was on her way home when she realized she needed someone to vent to and she didn't want to vent to Ric, he had been through enough for one day. She turned the car around and drove in the direction of Caroline's house. She stopped and seen Tyler on the front step begging Caroline to open the door.

"What are you doing Tyler?" she asked.

"Begging for forgiveness. I miss her." he said.

"You have a funny way of showing it. You're linked to Klaus. Maybe she'd talk to you if you weren't linked to him." she said knocking on the door.

"Elena come on in." Caroline said opening the door so Elena could pass by. She glared at Tyler before shutting the door.

"What's up?" she asked her friend once they were sitting on the couch.

"I told you how I'm giving Damon a chance right?" she asked.

"Yeah, is it over already?" she asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that I'm so mad at him. I'm not telling you any details with the listening, traitorous hybrid outside but all you need to know is that there was a spell involved and now I'm not able to go inside." she said.

"Wow. He had Bonnie spell a door to keep you out?" he asked.

"Supposedly its to protect me but I'm so mad at him. Why does he always have to protect me? Why cant he let me stand beside him and fight my own battles?" she demanded.

"Maybe because your battles are against thousands of years old vampires, or hybrids. Other things that humans cant battle." she said.

"You are no help. "You're supposed to tell me dump his ass, he doesn't know whats good for you. He should let you live your own life." That's what you're supposed to say." she said.

"Sorry Elena." Caroline said.

"Whatever. I'm going home." she said standing up and walking out of the house slamming the door on her way. She wasn't really mad at Caroline, she was just completely pissed at Damon. She hated how he kept trying to protect her, and how he wouldn't let her get involved in her own fate. It was her life. When she got home she walked in and slammed the door.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Ric asked.

"Your ass of a friend is a complete jerk." she said.

"What did Damon do now?" he asked. He had to chuckle slightly because it had only been a few days since "the kiss" and only two days since they got together to be whatever it was that they were, and it was the second day in a row she had walked in cursing his name.

"Damon is a jerk. I hate him." she said.

"I'm sure you don't hate him." he reasoned hopefully.

"Oh yes I think I do. He's stubborn, and he's trying to run my life." she said.

"What did he do?" he asked not knowing if he really wanted to know.

"He had Bonnie put a spell on the house to keep me out. Everyone but me can get in." she said.

"Ah. I don't know what to say to you. But I think he's just trying to protect you." he said reasonably.

"I don't want him to protect me like that." she sighed.

"I know you don't. But think of it from his point of view. He just got you, I don't think he's ready to lose you yet." Ric reasoned.

"Whatever. I'm going upstairs." she said getting up and walking towards her room. Two fights in two days they weren't off to that great of a start. She slammed her bedroom door when she got inside and collapsed down onto her bed screaming into her pillow.

"I am going over to see Elena." Damon said.

"Do whatever you want." Stefan said as he and Bonnie were focusing on trying to open the sealed coffin. Damon sighed and left the house, he got into his car and drove over to Elena's. When he knocked Ric answered the door.

"Hey Ric, I hear you died today." he said as form of a greeting.

"I did. I hear you got yelled at today." he said.

"I did." he said walking past him.

"You may not want to go up there. She's is angry." he said.

"I know. But the way I see it, angry is better than indifferent. At least that means she cares." he said.

"I can see your point. If you die can I have your car?" he asked.

"Yeah. I wont die though." he answered confidently.

"You better leave the keys down here just in case." Alaric said holding out his hand.

"I'll leave them on the table." Damon said placing the keys onto the table before walking up the stairs. He knocked on the door before opening it slightly.

"Elena its me." he said as he poked his head through the door.

"Go away. I am barring you from my room." she said.

"No your not because I can still get in." he said crossing the threshold and closing the door behind him.

"I don't want to talk to you." she said turning away from him petulantly.

"This right here is getting a wee bit repetitive." he said motioning between them.

"What is?" she demanded.

"This whole "I don't want to talk to you" routine." he said.

"Well I don't. You're an ass." she said.

"I'm an ass that wants to protect you Elena." he said.

"Well you're doing a really crappy job. Klaus comes by here all the time and you're never here." she shouted out.

"I'm sorry. It's not any safer down there with us either." he said.

"Maybe not but at least then I feel safer because I'm with you." she said.

"I'm sorry Elena. The spell was just a precautionary measure. Stefan doesn't want you down there."u he said.

"I figured that out, but it feels like you don't want me down there either." she said.

"I don't. But its because I don't know what Stefan will do. I don't trust him." he said.

"Neither do I." she said.

"That's why I joined him, why I decided to help him because I don't trust him. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." he said.

"I'm still mad at you though." she said sitting down on her bed.

"That's okay. How about you let me make it up to you. I'll take you out for dinner at the Grill. It can be a normal couply thing." he said.

"Do we do normal couply things?" she asked.

"We do tonight. Maybe we'll find that we like the couply things and we'll figure out our relationship some more." he said.

"Fine. I have to call Caroline first though. I have to apologize." she said.

"Okay. What did you say to Blondie?" he asked.

"I kinda went off on her because she defended your actions to me." she said.

"Oh. Well I'll just sit back and relax while you call her." he said grabbing her by the waist and pulling her down onto the bed beside him. She dialled the very familiar number and waited for Caroline to pick up.

"Hey Care" she said once she greeted her.

"Elena, you sound happier." she said.

"I am a bit. I'm sorry I went off on you. I was mad at Damon not you." she assured her.

"I know. It's okay. I would be pissed to. I'm pissed now with an annoying hybrid on my doorstep." she said.

"Yeah. We could come and get rid of him for you." Elena offered.

"We?" she asked.

"Yeah me and Damon. He's taking me out for dinner at the Grill." she said.

"I thought you were mad at him." Caroline said.

"I am. But he's buying me food." she said.

"Well have fun. I'm liking this whole ignoring the stupid hybrid thing I've got going on right now. Eventually he'll get the hint." she said.

"Alright. But I better go, I'm getting hungry and Damon has some serious making up to do." she said hanging up.

"So wolf boy is pouting on Blondies doorstep?" Damon asked getting the gist of the conversation.

"Yeah. He's begging for forgiveness and right now Caroline is staying strong. She's much better at it than I am." she said standing up.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah lets go." she said. He followed her out of the room and down the stairs.

"You're still alive." he said shocked to see Damon walking.

"Was I really that bad?" she asked.

"You were quite scary." Alaric admitted.

"Oh. Well Damon is taking me out for dinner. We'll be back soon. Do you want to come with or do you want me to bring you something back?" she asked.

"I'll stay here and eat leftovers. Last nights supper was really good." he said.

"It was. I'll see you in a couple of hours." she said.

"Bye." Alaric said urging them out of the house. Damon made a show of grabbing his car keys from the table much to the chagrin of Alaric who was hoping he would be the new owner of a Camaro.

He got them a table at the Grill and waited for their server to come by.

"Order whatever you like." he told her when they got their menus

"Ooh I'm going all out and ordering the bacon cheeseburger with chili cheese fries." she said.

"well I can feel my wallet getting lighter already." he joked. When their food was ordered they talked companionably for a while. They didn't talk about Stefan or anything related to that because Klaus could have spies anywhere and because they just wanted to forget about that for a while. They were talking for a while when someone came by.

"Mind if I join you?" Stefan asked.

"What are you doing Stef?" Damon demanded.

"Oh just joining my big brother and his girlfriend for dinner." he said telling his companion to slide in next to Elena. She obliged it was obvious she'd been compelled.

"What are you doing Stef?" Damon repeated.

"Well I figured I don't want to hide anymore. This is so much more fun. And besides I wanted to be here to see how good of a boyfriend Damon is." Stefan said ordering a glass of whiskey for himself.

"He's not my boyfriend." Elena said quickly.

"Yeah, and she's not my girlfriend." Damon said trying to mask the slight pain of her immediate brush off of their relationship status.

"so what are you? Friends with benefits?" he asked laughing.

"We are undetermined. I don't know what we are just yet." Elena answered.

"Sounds interesting. This little set up has immense potential." Stefan said.

"Do you want to leave?" Damon asked.

"Yeah." Elena agreed. Damon signalled their server over and asked her to box up their meals. When she brought them back Damon left a bill on the table and took Elena and left the restaurant.

"He is more annoying than you were when you first came." she said.

"And stupid too. Klaus is looking for him, what would make him make a pubic appearance like this?" he asked as they walked back to his car.

"I don't know. I think he's taunting him still." Elena admitted.

"You're probably right. What do you want to do now?" he asked.

"I don't know. Lets take the food back to my house and eat it in my room." she said.

" Ooh your bedroom. Are you trying to seduce me?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"I don't think I have to try." she responded.

"Very true." he agreed as they drove back to her house. They walked back into the house and Ric looked up when they entered.

"You're early." he stated.

"Stefan hijinks ensued." Damon said as way of explanation.

"I see." Ric said turning back to the TV.

"We're going to finish our dinner upstairs." Elena said.

"Have fun." Ric answered.

"Did you hear that? He said have fun. What could he have meant by that?" he asked conspiratorially.

"Not what you think he did." she said. When they were finished eating Damon turned to look at her.

"I've made a decision. I'm not going to leave your side. Stefan is a loose cannon, so I'm going to stay here and thwart Klaus with you until Stefan figures out what he's doing. Stefan and Bonnie can do whatever it is that they're doing and I'll help you with Klaus. He isn't going to harm a hair on your pretty little head." he assured her.

"Thank you." she said.

"Your welcome. I told you before that I'll always be there for you. And I will. Because I love you." he said. She smiled when he said that and she could feel the love she just wasn't ready to say it out loud.

"I know." she answered before leaning in and kissing him softly. The kiss quickly grew more and more passionate until he was lying beneath her body.

"Maybe we should stop." he said.

"Maybe you're right." she agreed as she rolled over to lay beside him.

"Maybe I should go." he said.

"Maybe you should stay." she argued.

"Maybe we should get some rest." he said.

"Maybe you're right." she said snuggling up beside him.


	3. Chapter 3

Here we go the third chapter of "One Perfect Moment" thanks to all of you who answered my questions. it seems like this will be a full story, dont know how long yet, it just depends on where the characters take me. And it seems like the majority of you want smut but there are a couple who dont. so in this story there will be a small amount of smut, nothing like my other story "Feels so Right" and it wont be until later. Probably towards the end unless the muse has other plans. Thank you for all your feedback last chapter and let me know what you think of this one. I took one of the scenes from tonights episode but changed it up to fit my story.

PS I own nothing at all though I wish I did.

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><p>Elena woke up from the cold breeze that was blowing through her window. She was sure the window had been closed when she went to sleep last night. She opened her eyes and saw Damon beside her and was happy. He was still dressed the same as he was last night so that meant he hadn't left. He was still asleep and she thought he looked oh so cute when he was asleep. She would never tell him that though, it probably wasn't something that he would want to hear. It might affect his bad ass vampire sensibilities. She got out of bed without disturbing him and walked over to shut the window. It was odd that the window was opened.<p>

"Good morning Elena." Stefan said from her open doorway.

"Stefan, what are you doing here?" she demanded. Damon sat up abruptly as Elena crawled back onto the bed to be closer to him and further away from Stefan.

"Well I got to the place today and I didn't see Damon. So naturally I came to investigate. Speaking of which fancy finding you in Elena's bed." he said.

"So what? I'm not helping you anymore Stefan. I have more pressing things to take care of. Since all your doing is making Elena's life more dangerous." he said.

"Aren't you two cute though? I mean look at you. It's practically the image of domestic bliss, with the exception of the blood thirsty vampires and all." he mused.

"Would you get out of here? You're not welcome in my bedroom anymore." she shouted.

"Aw but this is too cute. Damon you've got a little bed head going on there." he said teasing them.

"You heard her Stef, get out of here." Damon said his voice lowering to a dangerous whisper.

"Fine. Fine. I'll go. But I just have to say you missed a hell of a night when you left last night. Candy and I had a ton of fun." he said grinning.

"I'm sure you did. Now get out of here." Damon ordered.

"Although by the sight of you laying in her bed it appears you had a ton of fun too. Or at least you would have but you're both still wearing clothing. You struck out big brother." he laughed.

"Stefan go away." Elena shouted.

"How does it feel to know that the girl who is not your girlfriend is still hung up on me?" he asked laughing evilly.

"Stefan get out of here now, or else I will throw you out the window." he ordered with black fury rolling off of him in waves.

"Fine fine. I don't want to cause a fight." he said opening the window and leaping out. Damon turned back to Elena and grabbed his leather jacket off of the chair.

"I better go. I have things to do today." he said.

"Are you leaving because of what Stefan said?" she asked worried.

"Maybe. Is there any truth to what Stefan said?" he asked.

"I don't know." she answered honestly.

"Well then come find me when you do know." he said following Stefan's example and leaping out the window. She sank into her pillows, how did a set up that was so perfect yesterday turn into such a disaster today. Why did Stefan have to open his big mouth? Why did Stefan ruin it again? Now Damon was questioning what he meant to her and so was she. She didn't know how she felt about either brother. She knew she trusted Damon so much more than she did Stefan and she knew that her relationship with Stefan would never be the same. And she also knew she wasn't in love with Stefan anymore, but could that still mean she was hung up on him in some way. She felt something intense for Damon, but yet she didn't know what it was. While she was contemplating her issues Klaus materialized in her bedroom.

"Klaus, what are you doing here?" she asked afraid.

"Well I watched Damon leave here a few minutes earlier and then I also saw Stefan leave a couple minutes earlier. Anything you want to tell me?" he asked his voice deathly calm.

"No. I didn't know Stefan was here. I was asleep. And Damon left because we had a fight." she lied hoping he'd buy it.

"A vampire came into your room and you never knew he was here?" he asked disbelieving.

"Yes. I was asleep. Damon was with me, I felt secure enough to sleep deeply." she told him.

"I'm really getting sick of this. I want my family back." he yelled.

"I know. I'm trying Klaus. Really I am." she said trying to convince the extremely old hybrid.

"Find Stefan." he said finally before disappearing from her sight. Somehow under an hour after she woke up her day was already hell. Damon was upset with her and Stefan had brought up questions that she didn't know how to answer. Klaus was after blood and wouldn't stop until he got whatever he wanted. Jeremy was gone. Caroline was fighting with Tyler. It was all so messed up. All of that seemed to go away when she was with Damon though. At the very least the fear for her life went away when he was around. It was the security in knowing that he would do absolutely anything for her. He would risk his own life to keep her alive. There was something comforting about that. Although she knew she would never actually let him end his life to save her, it was nice to know he would try. After deciding that she had two choices, she could either stay up in her room and contemplate the disastrous state of her life or she could get on with her life. So she went downstairs where she noticed for the first time the house was empty. There was a note on the counter from Ric, it said _At Jenna's grave. Paying my respects. Didn't want to wake you. I'll be home later._

The idea broke her heart, she hated seeing how Alaric was struggling so, even though he hid it so well. He ignored his own pain for the most part in order to make sure she was safe, that Mystic Falls was safe, that everyone but himself was happy. Alaric was her family now and she needed to take care of him too. He took care of her, and she would try to take care of him as well. It was what families did.

"What the hell is your problem?" Damon demanded as he walked into the boarding house to find Stefan drinking a glass of blood laced bourbon.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Stefan asked making it clear that he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about. With Elena." he demanded.

"Oh that. Did it make you doubt her feelings for her? Make you think you're just a Stefan stand in?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, you made her think that. The way she kissed me the other night I'm pretty sure she's never kissed you that way. So much emotion." he said rubbing it in.

"You may be trying to affect me Damon, but its not going to work. You see, it doesn't bother me. You and Elena can do whatever you want and it wont bother me. Because wait for it... I'm not in love with her." he said gleefully.

"Whatever Stefan." he said.

"Just wait, loving Elena is like quicksand. The deeper you get the harder it is to get out." he said warningly.

"Maybe I don't want to get out." Damon said before walking upstairs. Stefan didn't respond, he just stayed quiet which was wise on his part. As much as he deserved it Damon didn't want to beat the hell out of Stefan tonight.

Damon sat upstairs in his room reading something when Stefan walked in.

"You know what Damon? Klaus seems to think I'm bluffing. That I'm just eventually going to give up and just hand over his family. I need to make a statement." he said tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"Whatever you're planning, count me out." Damon said.

"Why? Are my plans too edgy for you?" he asked tauntingly.

"No plans are too edgy for me. Yours are just a little too suicidal." he retaliated.

"Don't worry I don't need you for this plan. But just keep in mind its really going to put Klaus on his toes and show him who's in control." he said patting Damon's shoulder as he left the room. Damon watched his retreating form and wondered just what he was planning.

Elena stayed at home, she cleaned the house and cooked supper while waiting for Alaric to come home and for her feelings for Damon to become clear. She didn't want to go to him if she didn't have an answer for him. She knew she cared about him, that wasn't the problem. Her feelings for Damon weren't even the problem necessarily. Her feelings and lack there of for Stefan were the real issue. She needed to identify what she felt for Stefan, whether it was hate or indifference. Whether she wanted friendship or she wanted nothing at all from him. She already knew that there was no love left for him but she needed to come to terms with the rest of that before she could start something with Damon. Was Stefan right? Was she still hung up on him someway? She didn't know. She knew for a fact she didn't love him. That's where it got complicated.

"Thinking about me?" Stefan's recognizable voice asked. She spun around and found him leaning against the wall as if he owned the place.

"Why would you say that? And what the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Well you had that look on your face. And I am here because you are going to do something for me." he said.

"Why do you think I'm going to do anything for you?" she demanded

"Because you aren't going to have a choice." he said clamping his hand over her mouth and dragging her out of the house. He tossed her into the passenger seat of his car and started driving away.

"Stefan where are you taking me?" she demanded.

"We are going to prove to Klaus that I hold all the cards." he said as he drove faster.

"Why do you need me for that? What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm proving a point Elena. I am in control, if that means I have to take something from Klaus then so be it." he said.

"You already have his family Stefan, what else can you take?" she asked scared to death because she didn't know this man sitting beside her.

"I'm taking his leverage. You're the only reason he's able to make an army. I'm rectifying that." he said.

"You're going to kill me?" she asked, the betrayal evident in her tone.

"I have to Elena. Klaus must be stopped and this is the only way. Before I left you were all gung ho on dying for the cause. What happened to that girl Elena?" he asked.

"Stefan stop the car." she begged once she realized they were heading to Wickery Bridge.

"Why? I thought this was a poetic spot Elena. I saved you here the day your parents died, and now you're going to die here too." he said.

"Stefan please." she begged.

"So how do you want to go? Do you want me to drive off the bridge? Or should I kill you the old fashioned way?" he asked.

"Damon will save me. He always saves me." she said.

"That's if he wants to save you after your silence this morning when I mentioned that you might be still hung up on me." he said gleefully.

"I don't care." she said. In the silence Stefan's phone started ringing. He scowled at the name on the phone but answered it anyways.

"Damon. How can I help you?" he asked as he drove still closer to Wickery Bridge.

"Where the hell is Elena?" he demanded. Elena could hear his shout through the phone and was happy that he knew she was missing.

"Well that's my business right now brother." he said.

"If you harm a hair on her head I swear to God." he said.

"What can you do Damon? You don't know where we are. And I warned you, I had a plan to prove to Klaus that I was real. That I'm in control not him." he said.

"How about this Stefan? If you do not stop what you are doing right now, I'm with Klaus right now and I will tell him where his family is. And I will relish watching him kill you." he threatened through the phone.

"Why are you with Klaus?" he asked.

"because I went over to Elena's and Alaric said she wasn't there. That she left the stove on and everything. He was certain she got abducted and was a mess. So I immediately thought of Klaus and he had nothing to do with it. So I immediately thought of you and so help me God if you harm Elena in any way I will tell Klaus. Tell me where she is now!" he demanded.

"You wouldn't tell." he stated unsure.

"I already told him that I was involved but he promised he'd pardon me as long as I not only rescued Elena but also told him where the coffins are. Elena is his primary concern at the moment." he said.

"Fine. God Damon. I'm just trying to beat him. One human life shouldn't make a difference." he shouted.

"It's not one human life Stefan. It's Elena." Damon said.

"Fine. We're at Wickery Bridge." he said.

"You took her to Wickery Bridge? What kind of sick ass are you?" he demanded.

"I thought it was poetic." he said.

"I'll be right there." Damon said before ending the call.

"Did you save Elena?" Klaus asked.

"Yes I think so." he said.

"And where are my family?" he demanded.

"I cant tell you. On top of that I wont tell you, not yet. You haven't earned that. You leave us alone. You leave Elena alone and I'll consider telling you." he said.

"You're blackmailing me." he said shocked.

"No. I'm simple telling you how its going to be. You can obey my terms and get your family back or I'll let Stefan do what he does and eliminate them." he said.

"All I have to do is leave Elena alone?" he asked.

"And Alaric." he said.

"Fine Elena Gilbert and Alaric Saltzman are safe. What about you? Do you not want safety?" he asked.

"I do, but my main focus is Elena." he said.

"I'll keep my bargain for now, but if you screw with me I'll end you and everyone you love." he said.

"Noted." Damon said before leaving and getting in his car.

Elena felt Damon arrive before she seen him. Stefan had left her alone on the bridge and she spent the time remembering the night her parents arrived.

"Elena." he said walking over to her. She walked into his arms and rested her head on his chest.

"Thank you for coming." she said.

"No problem." he said kissing the top of her head.

"I just cant believe he'd kill me to prove something to Klaus and then leave me here." she said.

"He's Stefan. He's unpredictable." he assured her.

"That's not really helping." she said.

"I'm sorry Elena. Let's get you home. Ric is freaking." he said.

"I bet. I left the oven on and everything." she said.

"You didn't have much of a choice." he said wrapping his arm around her shoulder and leading her to his car. She was silent on the way back to her house. She was busy coming to terms with the entire lack of feelings she now had for Stefan. He was gone to her. He was dead to her. All that mattered now was the other Salvatore brother. The one who kept saving her and the one who never pretended to be someone else. It would never be Stefan again, that much she was sure of.

"Here you go. Home sweet home." he said stopping the car in front of her house.

"You should come in." she said.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Especially after what happened this morning with Stefan." he said.

"What happened with Stefan doesn't matter. Can you just come in?" she asked.

"I have a better idea. Why don't you go inside and get cleaned up, then we can try the whole couply date thing again." he said.

"That sounds great. Why don't you come in and wait while I do that?" she said.

"Sure." he said shutting off the car and following her inside.

"Elena, oh thank God." Alaric said rushing over and hugging her.

"Damon saved me." Elena said.

"Thanks Damon." he said honestly.

"No problem." he said sitting down on the couch and putting his feet up. Elena and Alaric both gave him a funny look at his apparent comfort in their home.

"Well, I'm going upstairs to get cleaned up I'll be back in a few minutes." she said.

"I'll be here visiting with my good friend Ricky." he said smirking.

"Oh yeah. My good friend Damon." Alaric said dryly. Elena smiled and walked upstairs.

"So I'm taking Elena for dinner again. And this time if Stefan hijinks ensue I will kill him." he said bitterly.

"What happened with that anyways?" Alaric questioned.

"He kidnapped her and threatened to kill her to send a message to Klaus. But thanks to that Klaus is now vowing to leave you and Elena alone." he said.

"Why would he do that?" Alaric asked.

"I actually have no idea. It doesn't make much sense. But it seems somewhere inside him there is a side that have a wee bit of humanity and he desperately wants his family back. And I'm pretty sure he wants Stefan's plans to be thwarted." he said.

"Sounds accurate." Alaric mused. They talked for a few more minutes before Elena returned dressed in new pair of jeans and a black lacy shirt.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yup. Talking with Ric is fun but going out with you is so much better." he said placing his hand on the small of her back and leading her out to his car.

"So are we going back to the Grill?" she asked.

"I thought so. If that's okay. Except this time if Stefan shows up I will have no problem tearing his heart from his chest." he said. Elena smiled at his protective nature, she knew he was doing it because Stefan kidnapped her. When they got to the Grill he led her to a table and sat down.

"Okay, I really hate asking this, mainly because I'm never the desperate one in a relationship. But what are we?" he asked.

"We're seeing each other Damon. I don't know what I feel for you but I know I feel nothing for Stefan. I don't hate him but I don't love him either. I don't even like him. I feel nothing." she said.

"That's a good answer." he said leaning forward and pressing a light kiss to her lips.

"So this is a new development." Matt said coming by to take their order.

"It's new to us too." she said smiling at her ex boyfriend turned friend.

"What can I get you?" he asked.

"Um, I'm going all out and ordering a strawberry milkshake." she said.

"No food?" he asked.

"Nah. I'm not hungry." she said.

"And for you Damon?" he asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine." he said.

"Alright." he said leaving the table.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing." he answered.

"Why aren't you having anything?" she asked.

"Because I figure if I stare at you long enough you'll give me some of your milkshake." he said.

"This isn't the Grease era, we don't share milkshakes anymore." she told him rolling her eyes.

"I know. Damn that era was fun." he said remembering.

"I bet it was knowing you." she said.

"Oh believe me it was." he said grinning. When Matt brought her milkshake over she stuck the straw in and took a deep drink.

"It is official. The Grill has the best milkshakes." she said admirably.

"Come on. I do everything better. I'll prove it to you sometime. I'll make you a killer milkshake." he said.

"I'll take you up on that offer." she told him. When she seen his hand just resting on the table top she reached across and placed her hand over top.

"Thank you so much for saving me Damon. Not just tonight but every night." she said honestly.

"You're welcome." he said smiling. She smiled back and finished off her milkshake. When she finished he left some money on the table and led her back out to his car. Elena leaned her head against the door as she continued contemplating what she felt for Damon. Damon clearly wanted more out of their relationship and she wanted to give it to him.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow sometime." he said when he stopped outside her house.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked.

"No. I think I'll just go home tonight." he said. She nodded and got out of the car. Halfway up the sidewalk she turned around knowing he could hear her from the car.

"Damon, I was wrong." she said. He got out of the car and walked over to her.

"What were you wrong about?" he asked.

"I do love you. Today just cemented that." she said. Elation went through him and he clasped her face in between his hands and kissed her like he'd never kissed her before, and this time she returned it.


	4. Chapter 4

Next chapter there will be some well earned Delena fluff. no smut yet. but now I need to ask are we all Forwood fans or are we interested in the possibilty of Klaus and Caroline. I'm thinking of maybe dabbling with them a little bit but am not too sure. Let me know what you think. I'm thinking of maybe keeping this story t rated and just writing a companion piece to the potentially smutty scenes. what do you think? Thanks for you support of this story. Enjoy.

PS I own nothing.

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><p>He backed her to the door and pressed her against it while he continued to kiss her deeply, she returned the kisses with just as much enthusiasm.<p>

"Lets go inside." she said. He pulled away and she opened the door leading them both inside.

"Have a good night?" Alaric asked from the couch when he heard them come in.

"Oh yeah. The best. The Grill makes the best milkshakes." she said.

"And that is where she is wrong. I will make her the best milkshake ever. Especially now that she's earned one." he said kissing her temple.

"And how exactly did she earn it?" Alaric asked suspiciously.

"Oh she did something to me that I've been waiting two years for." he said knowing exactly what was going through Ric's mind.

"I don't want to know." Alaric said.

"Relax Ric. Get your mind out of the gutter. She said "I love you."" he said smirking.

"oh. Oh thank God. I really don't want to think about you seducing her Damon." Alaric said sighing in relief. Elena and Damon sleeping together was the last thing he wanted to think about. And now that Jeremy was gone, Alaric felt he had to take on more of a protective role with Elena. Be the guardian that she doesn't have anymore.

"So you love Damon huh?" Alaric asked Elena.

"Yeah. Shocking huh?" she asked.

"Oh yes. You are far too good for him. But keep in mind there is not anything special about him." he said cheekily, smirking at Damon as he said that.

"And you both do realize that I am standing right here, and am feeling a little betrayed?" he asked mock glaring at the two of them.

"Oh I'm sorry baby." she said kissing his cheek condescendingly.

"I hate you both." he said glaring at them. Elena grinned and reached up to kiss his pouting bottom lip.

"You're really cute when you pout." she said and Alaric burst out laughing, knowing that being called cute would offend him.

"I am a bad ass, mean, evil, sadistic, vampire. There is nothing cute about me. And I do not pout." he said.

"Mr Bad Ass vampire, you are still pouting." she retaliated.

"You know, I think I'm just going to go home. There is far too much abuse in this house tonight." he said.

"You can survive stakes, and vervain, and fire but you cant survive your girlfriend teasing you?" Alaric asked laughing.

"Do you like your life Alaric? Because I can end it faster than you can snap your fingers." he said glaring.

"Come on baby, I like teasing you." she said smiling up at him.

"Ugh... fine. Do we need to hang out with Alaric though. Can't we go upstairs? Ric is no fun." he said.

"I happen to be lots of fun. Just ask Meredith." he said.

"Meredith? The psycho doctor who blood-jacked me?" he demanded.

"Yeah. We're going out again tomorrow night." he said.

"Who is Meredith?" Elena asked curiously.

"She is a psycho doctor who killed the medical examiner and blood jacked me. I hate her and I should kill her." he snarled.

"Meredith is my sort of girlfriend and yes she and Damon got off on the wrong foot." he admitted.

"I'm happy you're moving on Ric. It's time. Now Damon what did you do to her to make her attack you?" she asked knowing her boyfriend really well.

" Why do you automatically assume I did something. Why cant I be the victim?

"Because I know you Damon. Now what did you do?" she asked

" Fine, I confronted her about what I knew. She vervained me and then took some of my precious blood. I only give that out to a very select few people I actually like." he said.

"And you like her Ric?" she asked.

"I do. Is that okay?" he asked worried.

"Of course it is. I want you to be happy, and I want you in our lives. It's good. If you're good with me and Damon then I am more than fine with you and Meredith." she assured her father figure.

"I'm good with you and Damon. If there is anyone who can protect you, its him." he said reaching out and hugging her.

"Thanks. I wish telling Bonnie was going to be this easy." she said sighing.

"Well don't worry about that now. Just go upstairs or whatever it was you were planning because you have a slightly bored and irritated vampire right there." he said pointing to Damon who had drifted over to the stairs and was no drumming on the banister with his fingers, most likely leaving indentations in the wood.

"Alright, come on pouty lets go. I'm kinda tired after the activities of today." she said walking over to him and pushing him up the stairs.

"Finally." he muttered as he let her push him towards the stairs.

"Tyler, go away." Caroline said finally having enough of him practically living on her doorstep.

"We need to talk Caroline. I'm so sorry." he said.

"It's a bit late for I'm sorry Tyler." she said.

"Come on, just believe me. I wish I had more control than I do, but Klaus doesn't have me under complete control. I still have free will. And I want to be with you. I would never hurt you. I love you Caroline." he said.

"You what?" she asked.

"I love you." he repeated.

"Tyler? I cant. We are on opposite sides here. I am on team kill Klaus, where we don't allow Klaus to use her as a blood bag or kill anyone else we love. And you are on team Worship Klaus. Until you free yourself from him, I cant and wont be with you." she said firmly.

"Come on Caroline. It's not that easy. I cant just stop being under his control. I want to be under his control. He cares about me and I owe him my life." he argued.

"You've made your choice. And I've made mine." she said.

"You could become like me. Become a hybrid." he said.

"No. For one I refuse to drink Elena's blood and I don't think it works like that. I think only werewolves can be turned into hybrids." she said.

"So you wont give me another chance?" he asked.

"No. I'm sorry Tyler, but until the real you comes back you've lost me forever." she said snatching her hand back and walking into the house. Tyler sank back down to the porch and held his head in his hands. He had two completely contradicting sides at the moment. The one side wanted to be good and be whatever Caroline wanted, and the other needed to do whatever Klaus asked of him. And of course the Klaus side was more dominant at the moment.

The next morning Damon sat up straight when he heard the bedroom window open.

"What the hell do you want?" he snarled when he seen Klaus sitting on the window seat.

"Either you tell me where Stefan is or you tell me where my coffins are. You choose." he said calmly.

"Fine. Stefan is most likely at the boarding house. Go bother him." Damon said reaching for his cell phone in his jeans pocket, needing to warn Stefan.

"Well that was easy. You must be really desperate to protect Elena." he said impressed.

"She's the only thing that would make me cooperate with you." he said glaring at the centuries old hybrid.

"Well good. I'll be off now to see our dear friend Stefan." he said leaping out the window. Damon quickly texted Stefan and told him to be careful and keep Klaus busy. After the message was sent he slid out of the bed and pulled his shoes back on before writing a note for Elena on a piece of paper and leaving it on the pillow. When he was done he followed Klaus's example and leaped from the window. He rushed to the witch house and pulled the dagger from Elijah's chest and stole the locked coffin and moving it to a safe location before rushing into the woods where he could see Klaus when he arrived. Stefan texted him and told him that Klaus was on his way, so Damon left and went to the boarding house.

Elena rolled over and the note crinkled under her head. She rubbed her eyes and sat up before reading the note.

_Klaus was here. Had to leave. I'll see you later._

The note was beyond frustrating, she didn't know where he was or what he was doing. Or what Klaus was doing here. She didn't know if Klaus had him, or if Damon was off thwarting him again. She knew nothing and as much as she wanted to call or text him, she knew she shouldn't. If he was hiding from Klaus or doing something equally sneaky, she didn't want to risk getting him caught. She was stuck here until he made an appearance or until she couldn't take it anymore. Whichever came first. She laid back in bed when a very angry, very blonde vampire appeared in her room.

"God what is it with you vampires and barging into my room at random times?" she demanded seeing her friend pacing the floor of her room.

"He is still there. He just wont leave." Caroline shouted.

"Who? Tyler?" she asked sitting up.

"Yes Tyler. He wont go away. I made it clear last night that I wanted nothing to do with him, but no, he's still there." she whined.

"What happened Care?" Elena asked knowing there was something to the story that Caroline wasn't saying.

"He told me he loved me Elena. He loved me. That would have been fine a while ago but not now. He cant love me when he's serving Klaus to the death." she said.

"He can love you but you shouldn't trust him. I believe that his feelings are legitimate, he's just to unstable now for you to act on them." she told her friend.

"You're the best Elena. You think he really loves me?" she asked vulnerably.

"Yeah. Who wouldn't? You're Caroline Forbes. Everyone loves you." she said hugging her vampire best friend.

"Thanks Elena. Now how's it going in the relationship/ not relationship between you and Damon?" she asked.

"What about it?" she asked.

"Well I know you two have been kissing. Matt told me." Caroline said seeing the look on Elena's face.

"Yeah, we're in love." she admitted. It felt so good telling someone else her news, especially it being her best friend.

"Just be really careful Elena. He is dangerous, no matter how tame he acts now." Caroline warned.

"He's a completely different man than the one who dated you." Elena defended.

"I know. Good luck in telling Bonnie. She wont be nearly as accommodating as I am." she said pulling her friend in for a hug.

"Thanks Care." Elena said returning her friends hug.

Damon walked into the Boarding house and seen Stefan sitting in the parlour nursing a glass of something that was obviously blood.

"Did you get the coffins?" he asked.

"Only the locked one. And I may or may not have left a surprise for Klaus in one of them." he said producing a silver dagger from behind his back.

"Who?" Stefan asked.

"Elijah." Damon said smirking.

"Good choice. I commend you. You're choices have been stellar as of late." he said.

"Why do I have the feeling that we aren't talking about Klaus anymore?" he asked pouring himself a drink.

"Because we aren't. I love how you always go after girls who love me first." he said.

"And oddly enough I don't care. Elena chose me and that is a pretty heady feeling. I'm liking out. How does it feel to be second best this time around Stef?" he asked.

"I don't really care Damon." Stefan said shrugging his shoulders.

"You may not now, but someday you will flip the switch back and you'll realize that you lost Elena out of your own volition. It's your fault that she's with me now." he said leaning against the wall. Stefan ignored Damon and went back to drinking his blood. He wanted to hurt Damon, he wanted to attack him, but knew that the result of that would be him being laid out again and he wasn't in the mood for that today.

After Caroline left Elena sat at home and waited for Damon to call. After several hours of no word, she got frustrated and drove over to the boarding house. When she walked in Damon was leaning against a wall with a glass in his hand and Stefan was seated in a chair across from him.

"Elena what are you doing here? I was going to come to you." Damon said turning his head when she walked in.

"Where were you?" she demanded walking over to him and wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"I had something to take care of. But believe me when I say things are about to get interesting." he said.

"Interesting good. Or interesting bad?" she asked.

"Knowing my luck probably bad, but technically it should be good." he said.

"Are you okay though. You left me a cryptic note and I worried all day." she said.

"I'm fine. I got in and I got out. Klaus has his family back." he said.

"You gave them back?" she asked.

"Yeah, I decided you were right." he said kissing the top of her head, ignoring Stefan's presence a couple feet away.

"Good. Maybe now he'll leave us alone." she said.

"Not for long. I also woke up Elijah." he muttered.

"Is that good or bad?" she asked wearily.

"I don't know yet. I guess we'll find out." she said.

"Does he have all the coffins?" she asked.

"No, I hid the locked one, and I'm not telling anyone where. It's my leverage." he said. Elena nodded not really wanting to know where it was hidden. She wanted the partial illusion of a normal life. She didn't want to know where some supernaturally spelled coffin, potentially holding something or someone who could kill the evil, insane hybrid who was studiously ruining all of their lives. She wanted to pretend none of it existed. She wanted one day in her life where nothing was supernatural and nothing was coming after her.

"Damon?" she asked resolved on asking him for help in her desire.

"What's wrong?" he asked looking down at her.

"Are you strongly opposed to having a couply human night with me somewhere away from all the death and destruction our lives have to offer?" she asked.

"where do you want to go?" he asked.

"I don't know. We can just drive. But I need a human day. A day away from the supernatural drama that runs my life. Will you do that for me?" she asked.

"Of course. When do you want to go?" he asked wrapping his arms tighter around her.

"As soon as possible. I need to get away." she said.

"Alright. We'll leave right away." he said kissing the top of her head before releasing her and turning to Stefan.

"Well that was cute." he said bitterly.

"I am taking Elena away for the night, can you take care to not ruin everything while I'm gone?" he asked.

"I am in control Damon. When are you going to realize that you're not in control this time." he said.

"I'm the one who awoke Elijah and stole the locked coffin. So it seems I'm in control, but heed my warning do not ruin everything. I'll only be gone for the night." he said.

"Whatever you say." he said bitterly before pouring himself a glass of bourbon. Damon appeared at least partially satisfied and rushed upstairs to pack an overnight bag before returning to Elena's side seconds later.

"Let's go." he said pushing her towards the door and heading to her house. When they got there Alaric was sitting in the living room with Meredith. She was laughing at something he said and it warmed Elena's heart to see Ric happy.

"Damon and I are going away for the night. I need a normal night." she said.

"Alright. Where are you going?" he asked.

"I don't know yet. I'll text you when I know. Why aren't you making a big deal out of this?" she asked.

"Because you're going with Damon and because you're right you need a normal human night. Just be careful." he said.

"We will. I'll see you tomorrow." she said walking up the stairs to her room with Damon following behind her. Throughout the entire conversation Damon had glared daggers at Meredith but to her credit she never flinched. She walked into her room and saw Bonnie sitting on her bed.

"Bonnie what are you doing here?" she asked surprised to see her friend.

"I needed to talk to you. Is it okay if we talk without your body guard present?" she asked.

"Bonnie I need to talk to you too. Damon and I are together. For real." she said deciding to just go for it.

"What?" she asked shocked and hoping she heard incorrectly.

"I'm in love with Damon Salvatore." she repeated.

"Oh my God. He's an evil murderer Elena." Bonnie exclaimed.

"Not anymore he isn't. Without him I would have died so many times in the past year or so." she said.

"I know. Are you happy?" Bonnie asked.

"I am. But I need you to hurry Bon. Damon and I are going away for the night." she said.

"You're leaving town with him overnight?" she asked disapproval radiating from her.

"Yes, I need a normal human night." she said for hopefully the last time.

"Fine. Just be careful. Anyway, I'm here because I wanted to apologize for what I said about compelling Jeremy." she said.

"It's okay. You just miss him and so do I." she said.

"I do miss him. I feel like we're never going to see him again." she said.

"We will. When all of this blows over we'll get him to come home and everything will be okay again." she assured her friend.

"I hope so. But that's all I wanted. I'll let you get going." she said standing up and leaving the room. Elena packed a overnight bag before following Damon out to his car. And a few minutes later they were hitting the road. And a little while later they pulled up in front of the lake house, the one place that Elena still felt very much like a normal teenage girl.


	5. Chapter 5

Hope you enjoy it. Here we get Delena's night away and some Klaroline. the date is next chapter. Need some imput from all of you... who should Caroline end up with at the end of this story? Tyler or Klaus. I'm having an impossible time deciding and really need help. I have endings for both of them thought up and they both sound good. Hmmm which one. whichever one gets the most votes wins. Let me know what you think.

PS I own nothing

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><p>She pulled the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door pulling Damon in behind her. She shut and locked the door out of habit although there was no one that knew where they were. They were virtually safe here and that thought gave her comfort. On their way out of town he had thought to stop at a grocery store to get some supplies and she was glad that he did. The house was virtually empty food wise. He unloaded the ice cream and chips and other junk food items into their respective places before joining Elena leaning against the counter.<p>

"Last time I was here I was with Stefan." she mused.

"Things have changed so much since then." he said.

"I know. Back then I was firmly in love with Stefan and I thought I always would be. Now he is a self serving psychopath and I'm in love with you." she said.

"I like now so much more than then." he said kissing her cheek.

"I'm just going to live in the present tonight. Not worry about anything other than what's here and now. Only worry about us. We need a normal couple night, one where he lay in bed and watch movies all night without the threat of Klaus or Stefan coming to kill us. I need this." she said.

"We both need this. And it would be a perfect excuse to make you a killer milkshake." he said smiling at her.

"I'm in. I'm just going to go upstairs and change into something more comfortable and then I'll come back down." she said.

"That sounds promising." Damon said waggling his eyebrows. She laughed and walked up the stairs to her bedroom and pulled out a pair of comfy flannel pyjamas. The long sleeved shirt and flannel pants were so warm and cozy she never wanted to take them off. She paired them with her fuzzy slipper boots and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She could hear the blender whirring downstairs and opted to stay up there to pick a few movies. She picked a small pile of movies and placed them by the TV before going downstairs to help Damon.

"Do you need anything?" she asked.

"Nope. It's all good." he said balancing the large cup of milkshake and the chips and a couple chocolate bars in his hands along with two bottles of pop. "You look comfy." he noted as they walked up the stairs.

"I am so comfy. These are the best pyjamas known to man." she said.

"You look warm. I may have to snuggle up close and take some of your body heat." he said smiling.

"I'm not going to argue with you there." she said as they walked into what was her bedroom. "I chose a few movies. You can pick from there." she said.

"Sounds good. Automatic no to the Notebook. Ten things I hate about you. This one was kinda funny if I remember correctly." he said.

"It was amazing. One of my favourite movies. Heath Ledger was amazing in it." she said.

"Oh yeah I remember this movie" he said as he opened the case and put it in the machine while Elena crawled up onto the bed and snugged under the covers. He joined her on the bed and handed her the milkshake.

"Drink up." he said.

"What kind is it?" she asked glancing at the multicoloured concoction.

"Strawberry with chocolate chips and toffee bits." he said proudly.

"Sounds yummy." she agreed. She took a deep drink of the thick drink and said nothing.

"So?" he asked confidently.

"I may have lied before. This is the best milkshake on the planet." she said reaching over to kiss him.

Bonnie sat at home and cradled the phone in her hands. Elena had given her Jeremy's phone number just in case she wanted to talk to him and Bonnie wanted to, she just wasn't sure how. Finally forcing herself to dial the numbers she listened for the phone to ring. She nearly cried when Jeremy's familiar voice greeted her in the phone.

"Hello?" he greeted.

"Hi Jeremy. It's Bonnie." she said into the phone.

"Bonnie. It's so great to hear from you. How have you been?" he asked.

"Not too bad. How are you?" she asked.

"Its going great here. How is everyone else. How is Elena?" he asked.

"Elena is dating Damon. It's odd, and I never expected it. But there it is." she said.

"I totally saw that one coming. The attraction was so obvious to me." he said silently cheering.

"I seen the attraction, I just didn't see the romance and the love." Bonnie defended.

"Well if you didn't see the attraction there would have been a problem. I think even Stefan seen the attraction between them." Jeremy snorted.

"They weren't good at hiding it that's for sure." Bonnie said,

"But how's it going in Mystic Falls? I needed to get away but that doesn't mean I'm not curious." he said.

"It's fine. It's the same." Bonnie said.

"Yeah. But I better go. I have a killer exam tomorrow and should get some studying done." he said.

"Good luck Jer. Call me sometime." she said.

"Will do. Goodbye Bonnie." he said before hanging up the phone. Bonnie hung up after him and sighed staring straight ahead of her. She had hoped that talking to him would make it feel more over finally, but it didn't. It just made her miss him even more, if that was possible.

"Caroline will you please come out and talk to me. Please." Tyler begged.

"Fine." she said stepping outside and facing him on the porch.

"Caroline please. I love you so much. Just let me prove that to you. I'm just asking for one chance. Please." he begged taking her hand in his.

"Tyler... I don't know." she said uncertainty evident in her voice.

"Please Caroline. You loved me once before, you can try again, cant you?" he asked.

"why should I?" she asked stubbornly.

"Because I'm in love with you and I always will be. You're the one Caroline Forbes." he said staring into her eyes. She let a tear escape before kissing him suddenly. Their lips molded together as they kissed like there was no tomorrow. It would have went further but as Tyler's lips trailed down her neck she felt a sharp sting.

"Tyler what the hell?" she demanded.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry." he said instantly taking a step back.

"Did you bite me?" she demanded.

"Caroline I'm so sorry. It just happened." he said.

"Stay away from me." she yelled as she rushed into the house and collapsed by the door. She made it to her bed where she lied down. She knew what was going to happen now, she remembered what almost happened when Tyler bit Damon. She knew she was going to die.

Tyler rushed to the house where Klaus was staying and barged in.

"How can I help you?" he asked mildly annoyed that he just barged in like that.

"I bit Caroline. I need you to save her, please." he begged.

"You bit the blonde vampire?" he asked shocked.

"I did. I'll do anything for you, just save her." he said.

"So you'll do whatever I ask of you, if I save the blonde vampire's life?" he clarified.

"Yes. And her name is Caroline." he said firmly.

"Fine. I shall go save Caroline. There's something about her anyways... I kinda like her." he said smiling. Tyler breathed a sigh of relief as Klaus left the house feeling confident that Klaus would save Caroline.

"That movie was fantastic." Elena said snuggling in Damon's arms when the end credits rolled through.

"I liked it." he admitted.

"I figured. I heard you hold back laughter a few times. Real laughter, not those sardonic chuckles you like letting out." she said.

"It was a good movie. So what now?" he asked.

"When I was younger I used to always go out and sit on the dock at night. It's so nice out there at night, its chilly but its so beautiful. The way the moon shines on the water and hearing the crickets chirp. It's amazing." she sighed remembering.

"Did you and Stefan do this when you were here?" he asked.

"No, we were too worried about what was coming after us. I'm not worried about that tonight." she told him.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because no one knows where we are but mostly because I'm with you. No one makes me feel as safe as you can." she told him cupping his cheek in her palm.

"I'm glad." he said leaning in to kiss her softly. She kissed him back for a moment before pulling away and grabbing the throw blanket resting on the edge of her bed and wrapping it around her shoulders. She pulled her slippers back on and waited for Damon who was taking his time getting out of the warm bed.

"Hurry up Damon." she insisted, stomping her foot on the floor like a petulant child.

"Fine fine. I'm coming." he said walking over to her and following her down the stairs and out of the house. She walked along the path to the docks and sat down keeping her feet a fair distance from the cold water. Damon sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder pulling her closer to him.

"You know sitting here with you, almost makes me believe that the world isn't as screwed up as I know it is. Here with you, there is no Klaus, no vampires, no werewolves, no hybrids, no doppelgangers. And I am just a regular teenage girl in love with a regular man." she whispered, thinking that her voice would ruin the calmness surrounding them.

"Well then lets be those people, at least while we're here. You can be the normal teenage girl in love with me and I'll be the 24 year old man in love with you." he said leaning in and kissing her softly. She smiled around his lips and kissed him softly.

"I love you." she whispered. After she pulled away from him, she leaned her head on his shoulder and he pulled her closer to him as they watched the nature around them, enjoying the silence and the calm of the world.

Klaus walked into Caroline's bedroom and seen her lying there.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded weakly. The bite was taking so much more out of her, so much quicker than it did from Damon it seemed. Damon had been mostly normal for quite a while after being bitten but here she was, bedridden, only around an hour after Tyler bit her.

"I'm here to save your life." he said softly.

"why?" she asked.

"Because its a waste of a beautiful vampire." he answered simply. She stared at him confused for a moment before he tore into her wrist and offered her the bleeding bite. She took it eagerly and drank deeply feeling the bite heal itself on her skin.

"Thank you." she said.

"Now I have two orders of business to discuss with you. Would you call yourself friends with Damon and Stefan?" he asked.

"Why?" she asked.

"Do they listen to you?" he insisted.

"Damon doesn't listen to anyone but Elena. But I guess in a way he does." she agreed.

"Good. I want you to tell him that I want my coffin back. I am being completely honest here, and when I say there is a reason that coffin is spelled shut like it is. The person in there will destroy all vampires, not just me. You'll all be dead, maybe I'm not the main problem. Maybe I need to keep everyone safe by keeping the coffin spelled permanently." he said.

"What's in the coffin?" Caroline asked.

"I'll tell you on one condition." he told her holding up one finger to symbolize the one.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You go on a date with me." he said smiling. Caroline immediately started laughing out loud until she seen the serious expression on his face.

"I wasn't joking. You go out with me and I'll tell you who's in that coffin." he said.

"That's not good enough. I go on a date with you and you tell us who's in the coffin, and you leave everyone I care about alone." she said.

"I like a feisty one." he said.

"Good, then you'll enjoy this. I will not agree to go out with you until you vow to uphold my demands." she said crossing her arms across her chest.

"Deal." he said. She blinked rapidly in succession shocked that he actually agreed to that. It made it hard to think of anything he could be planning when he promised to leave everyone alone.

"And I want to bring backup in case you try something." she said.

"You really think that low of me?" he asked.

"Yes." she answered.

"Fine then bring backup. But at least make it someone who it could appear we are double dating with." he said.

"Fine. I'll bring Damon and Elena." she said.

"Interesting choice." Klaus said.  
>"I thought so." Caroline responded.<p>

"I'll be leaving now. I'll see you tomorrow night." he said striding out of the room. Caroline let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding and wondered what she got them all into. This could either save their lives or kill them all, and she wasn't sure which at the moment. She wasn't sure how this was going to work out, but she knew she had to go through with it. It was their only hope and she wasn't going to mess it up.


	6. Chapter 6

Here you go, another chapter. I actually really like this one. I loved writing it. I am taking a bit of a liking towards the Klaus/Caroline potential, so you might be reading a lot of that in the next while. Okay, it was hard to keep the chapter t rated after seeing that Delena magazine cover. Oh my God that was hot. Anyone else agree? ;). Now off to write some smut, let me know what you think of this chapter. Read and review please and thank you.

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><p>"Hmmm, that's odd. Three missed calls from Caroline." Elena said checking her phone when she got up the next morning.<p>

"You should call her back. What if something happened?" Damon asked.

"You're right." she said dialling Caroline's number.

"I'll go make breakfast." he said getting out of the warm bed and walking out of the room. Caroline picked up on the second ring as if she had been waiting for Elena to call her back.

"Elena. Finally. Where have you been?" the blonde vampire demanded.

"Having a normal couple night with Damon. I shut off my phone." Elena admitted.

"Oh. Okay. I'm glad you had a human night. You deserve it. But now I must ask, what kind of mood is Damon in?" she asked.

"Why?" Elena asked baffled.

"Well because if he's happy he may take this news better than he will if he's not." she said.

"Caroline you better explain in full before I start making assumptions." Elena said.

"Okay. But its not what you're thinking. I found Tyler on my doorstep last night, and he convinced me that he was the one. So we started kissing and then he bit me. He actually bit me. Needless to say that's so over now. But Klaus came in and saved my life. He then proceeded to talk and tell me he wants his coffin back. I said no. He told met that we should want to keep it closed because whoever's in there is more dangerous than he is. I wanted to know who was in there and he made me a deal. I didn't take it and added to it instead. So now if I go on a date with him he'll tell me who is in the coffin and his hybrids will leave Mystic Falls." she explained.

"Oh. That was a lot to take in Care. First of all how are you? Tyler bit you. And secondly how will this affect Damon's mood?" she asked wearily.

"Because I may have requested backup. And Klaus said it has to be someone we can double date with. So I chose you and Damon." she said.

"Oh God. Damon is not going to like this." Elena said shaking her head.

"I know. Which is why I'm hoping he's in a good mood because then he may be more forgiving." Caroline said hopefully.

"I'll talk to him. He wont leave you stranded. Despite everything he has grown sort of fond of you, as annoying as he thinks you are. What time are we going?" she asked.

"Klaus is picking me up at my house at 7 and we're going to that restaurant on the way out of town. The new one." she said.

"Alright. I'll talk to Damon and we'll meet you there." she said.

"Good. I'll let you go." Caroline said.

"Alright. For the record Care, I don't like this." Elena said.

"I know. I'm sorry. I do believe him though. I don't think he means to hurt us. He vowed." she said.

"Alright. But Damon's making breakfast. I better go." she said.

"I'll see you tonight." Caroline said hanging up the phone.

"So what am I not going to like?" Damon asked when Elena came downstairs.  
>"You didn't listen in?" she asked.<p>

"No. I only heard you." he said.

"Okay. Apparently you and I are double dating tonight." she said.

"That doesn't sound so bad. Who with?" he asked.

"Klaus and Caroline." she answered. Damon spit out the gulp of coffee he had in his mouth and stared at Elena.

"How long have we been gone? Klaus is the bad guy why the hell is Caroline dating him? You better explain from the beginning." he said sitting down.

"Fine. You get the short version. Tyler bit Caroline. Klaus saved Caroline. Klaus is going to tell us who's in the coffin and rid the town of his hybrids if Caroline goes on a date with him. Caroline wants back up. She believes he's telling the truth. He seems truly afraid of what is in the coffin. He told Caroline it could rid the world of all vampires not just Klaus. Whoever it is is bitter and vengeful." she said.

"And Caroline believes him?" Damon asked unhappily.

"Yes. He vowed to uphold her demands." she said.

"I don't have a choice do I?' he asked.

"No. We're going to that new restaurant, at 7." she said.

"Fine. There goes my happy mood." he said scowling at the plate of bacon and eggs in front of him as Elena started to eat hers.

"Did you save Caroline?" Tyler asked rushing into the house.

"Yes. She is fine. Although I'm sure she never wants to see you again." Klaus said.

"I would understand it if she didn't. But I plan on fighting for her." he said honestly.

"Good luck with that." he said turning back to the hybrid he was talking to.

"You want us to leave Mystic Falls sir?" the hybrid asked.

"Yes. I want you all to leave and do not come back. I made a promise." he said.

"Of course sir." the hybrid said and went off to tell the rest.

"You're making them all leave? What happened?" Tyler asked curiously.

"I am making them leave. As I told him, I made a promise to someone." he said not willing to divulge any more information.

"I'm going to see Caroline." Tyler said.

"Like I said good luck with that." he said smiling at the young hybrid.

"Are you insane? You're going on a double date with Klaus and Damon and Elena?" Bonnie asked clearly questioning Caroline's sanity.

"Yes. I am not explaining this again. I already did." she said.

"I just don't understand it. How do you know he's telling the truth?" she demanded.

"I just do. Now which dress should I wear?" she asked holding up a blue dress and a pink dress.

"Go with the blue." Bonnie said sitting on the bed.

"That was what I was thinking too." Caroline admitted holding the dress up in front of her.

Instead of going directly to Caroline's house, Tyler opted to go home for a while first. He needed to think this through, he had no idea what to say to her. How did one apologize to one you almost killed?

"Honey, you're home. I haven't seen you in a long time." Carol Lockwood said seeing her son walk in the house.

"I've been busy mom." he said.

"There's something different about you." she noted.

"I've changed. I got changed again." he said.

"Into what?" she asked understanding that he wasn't talking about transforming from human to werewolf.

"I'm a hybrid. Vampire and werewolf combined. It's been hard. I've lost Caroline." he said.

"How? What happened Tyler?" she demanded sitting her son down on a couch.

"I bit her. A bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire mom. I almost killed Caroline. Klaus saved her life. I am eternally grateful to him." Tyler said.

"You should be. Caroline is a great girl." Carol said before getting up and walking into her office.

At 6 Caroline started getting ready. She found herself being kind of excited for this date. She couldn't wait to see how an extremely old hybrid did dates. It was bound to be good. She had never been thoroughly dated before. Her and Matt hung out at her house, or his house or the Grill. Her and Tyler just had sex a lot. She didn't even want to mention Damon, that wasn't dating at all. He was simply using her. She didn't know how to predict Klaus. Once she had her dress zipped up the doorbell rang. 630. "He's early." Caroline exclaimed to herself rushing to answer the door. Except it wasn't Klaus on the other side it was Tyler.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Are you going somewhere?" he asked taking in her attire.

"Yes. I'm going on a date. Me and someone are going on a double date with Damon and Elena." she said.

"Who is it?" he asked hurt.

"I cant tell you. On top of that I wont tell you. I don't owe you anything." she said.

"Caroline please. Don't do this." he begged.

"You almost killed me Tyler. That kind of ends a relationship." she said shutting the door in his face. Knowing she was right Tyler left and went home again. Caroline returned to her bedroom and finished doing her hair and makeup. She finished just as the doorbell rang again. Considering it was exactly 7 she knew it was Klaus.

"Good evening Caroline." Klaus greeted her when she opened the door.

"Hello." Caroline said not used to this level of chivalry. He walked her to his car and opened the door for her. She had to admit he looked good in a simple suit.

"You look devastatingly beautiful tonight." he noted as he got in the other side of the car.

"Thank you. You look nice." she said.

"Thank you. Are Damon and Elena meeting us there?" he asked.

"Yes." she answered.

"I must warn you Tyler was planning to come and speak to you." he told her.

"He already did. I cant speak to him at the moment for obvious reasons." she said.

"Of course. Oh I nearly forgot. I bought you this." he said opening a box to show a silver bracelet.

"It's beautiful." she admitted.

"Will you wear it?" he asked.

"Sure." she said offering him her wrist to clasp the bracelet onto it.

"It looks good on you." he noted as he released her wrist.

"Thank you." she thanked him. He nodded and smiled before starting up the car and pulling away from the curb.

"I really really don't want to do this." Damon said as he finished buttoning up his shirt and pulling his jacket on.

"We have to. Caroline needs backup." she said from his bed.

"Why us? Cant she bring witchy and someone else?" he asked.

"She wanted us. And I want to be there for her." Elena said rolling her eyes at him. He was being overly difficult and it was getting annoying.

"Fine. You look amazing by the way." he said taking in her strapless black dress and black heels. The dress stopped just above her knees.

"Thank you. So do you." she told him.

"I'm sorry I'm being difficult. But I just really don't want to spend my evening with Klaus." he said grimacing at the idea.

"Maybe it wont be so bad." she said hopefully.

"You don't really believe that." he said leaning into kiss her softly.

"It's going to be a disaster." she corrected herself. He kissed her once more before pulling her to her feet.

"Let's get this over with.." he said pulling her towards the door and down the stairs. He helped her into his car and drove to the restaurant. Give it to the original hybrid to be there right on time as he waited with Caroline by the door. Elena shot Caroline a look when she seen the silver bracelet on her wrist and Klaus's hand on the small of her back. Caroline subtly shrugged her shoulders and offered her a small smile. Elena visibly relaxed because Caroline seemed fairly confident that Klaus wasn't going to try something here tonight.

"Right on time." Klaus told Damon as they headed into the restaurant. Damon bit his tongue against saying something sarcastic or witty. He really did want to stay alive tonight. Once they were seated Caroline stared at Elena with an expression that clearly said we need to talk.

"We'll be right back. Lip gloss check." Elena told Damon as Caroline got up to follow her into the bathroom.

"To listen or not to listen. That is the question." Klaus muttered.

"I say not to listen. That's my girlfriends privacy you'll be invading." Damon said.

"Fine. I will not listen in. Besides I'm fairly confident tonight. Caroline is a nice girl and a beautiful vampire." Klaus said.

"You will not harm her. But I have to thank you for saving her life. She may be obnoxious as hell but she's still a friend." he said.

"Not a problem. My one remaining hybrid caused the problem. I had to fix it." he said smiling. Damon was overly confused by this version of Klaus, but he decided he better enjoy it while it lasted.

"What's with the bracelet? I have never seen that before which poses the question. Did Klaus give it to you?" she asked.

"Yes. It's beautiful. Elena, I have never been on a date like this. Matt could never afford it. Tyler doesn't like this sort of thing. Damon shamelessly used me. I've imagined countless dates over the years and Klaus does it better. Much better. He's chivalrous." she said.

"That's probably because hes thousands of years old." Elena muttered.

"I trust him. I know he's not going to try anything." Caroline said.

"Fine. I trust you." Elena said.

"Good. Let me have this night. And if it ends up helping us in the long run, then so be it." she said.

"You're right of course." Elena said hugging her friend. The two girls returned to the table and Damon slung his arm around the back of Elena's chair as she subtly slid it closer to his. He smirked at he before taking her hand underneath the table.

"Shall we order?" Klaus said summoning a waiter of to them. The four ordered their meals and talked about mundane things since Klaus was unwilling to talk about any sort of business here tonight.

"Business can wait until tomorrow. I want to enjoy this company for tonight." he said charming Caroline thoroughly.

Tyler was on a mission. He was going to search Mystic Falls until he found Caroline. And then he was going to kill whoever he was with. Caroline was his and she always would be. He knew that killing would be a little over dramatic, but couldn't bring himself to care. He had made a mistake, he had bit Caroline and almost killed her. But she was still alive because he had the presence of mind to go get Klaus. He shouldn't lose her permanently because of that mistake. All he wanted was for her to know how sorry he was and to make it up to her one way or another. He drove by the new restaurant in town and stopped the car. He knew if he was taking Caroline on a real date this is where he would take her. He got out of the car and walked over to the window. He seen her across the restaurant laughing. She had a massive smile on her face and it looked like she was really enjoying the company of the man beside her. He couldn't see his face, because his back was towards him. He seen Caroline lightly touch his back and he hated how his arm was draped across the back of Caroline's chair. The man was recognizable though. Easily recognizable now that he focused his hearing and heard his voice. The distinctly English accent was like a stake into his stomach. Klaus was dating Caroline. What happened to caring about him. But it was Klaus, he only really cared about himself. But Caroline? Why would she date Klaus? Was it out of gratitude for him sang her life? Even if it was, she shouldn't be enjoying being with him like this. He had never seen her laugh like this. And the silver bracelet glittering on her wrist. He had seen it before. He seen it just yesterday sitting on a table in Klaus's house. Tyler rushed off and sped away from the restaurant immediately driving to Klaus's house and planting himself in a chair so they could discuss this when Klaus returned.

Even Damon couldn't deny that he was enjoying the evening. Klaus was almost enjoyable when he wasn't trying to kill them.

"Are you ready to discuss the coffin?" he asked.

"No. I want to enjoy this evening. I'm having much too much fun to discuss someone that's going to rid the world of vampires if she ever gets out." he said aware he gave them a hint.

"So its a woman?" Damon asked.

"Ah Damon you really want to know. Fine. The original witch is in that coffin and she is vengeful. She wants me dead but after so many years she'll probably want everyone else dead to. It would be extremely stupid of you to open that coffin. Now can we get back to our date?" he asked.

"I guess so." Damon said processing the information. He didn't have anything to think of right now and decided instead that he'd file that away for further study later on and just enjoy the present for a moment. When the date was over Klaus drove Caroline home and walked her to the door like a perfect gentleman.

"I really enjoyed tonight. I didn't think I would." Caroline admitted.

"As did I. I wonder if you'll give me the privilege of taking you out again sometime?" he asked.

"We'll see. It depends on how you behave over the next while." she said smiling at him.

"I will behave." he said smirking.

"Good." she said reaching up and kissing his cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"For saving my life and showing me a good time." she said before walking into the house and shutting the door behind her with a smile on her face.


	7. Chapter 7

this chapter moves quickly and it is basically a retelling of last weeks episode including heartbreaking moments. but it ends differently. it moves quickly and I hope you dont hate it. Let me know what you think. definitely not one of my best chapters.

PS I own nothing.

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><p>A few days later Elena was standing in her kitchen talking with Damon and Stefan. Damon was positioned protectively behind Elena with his arms around her waist and his head resting on her shoulder. She leaned into him and Stefan tried not too watch them, but focused on listening to what they were saying. It made him extremely jealous to see his brothers arms around Elena in a romantic way. They were trying to figure out how to deal with the open, formerly sealed coffin and the angry released witch that came with it. Along with the presence of the rest of the originals including Rebekah the one that presumably wanted to kill Elena. There were no suitable solutions at the moment and when the doorbell rang Elena untangled herself from Damon's embrace to answer it. There was no one there when she opened the door so instead she looked down and found a envelope on the ground. She picked it up curiously and brought it inside.<p>

"What is it?" Damon asked coming to stand by her side.

"An invitation. To the Original ball. I was invited by Esther Michaelson." she said.

"That must be mommy dearest." Damon said.

"She wants to speak to me. Alone." she said.

"Oh no. So not happening." he said trying to take the invitation out of her hands.

"Damon." she whined keeping a hold on the piece of paper.

"No." he said. She twirled a little bit and brought the invitation down by her stomach which caused Damon's arms to go around her pulling her closer to him.

"I am going." she whispered, more than aware of how close he was to her.

"No you're not." he said.

"I'm getting out of here before this gets more awkward than it already is." Stefan said disappearing from the house.

"I have to go Damon. She wants an audience with me." she said.

"And I want you alive. I'll go instead." she said.

"She wants me." Elena said pulling out of his arms.

"And I said no way. I have to go. I'll see you later, after I return from the ball." he said kissing her cheek and placing the partially crumpled invitation down on the counter. Elena knew that despite what he thought, she was going to this ball. He wasn't keeping her home for this, he couldn't always protect her.

Caroline got up the next morning more than a little confused. She hadn't heard from Tyler since the day of the date, and she hadn't heard from Klaus. She didn't know if she wanted to hear from either of them. Klaus was still the enemy and he still wanted to drain her best friend to create an army of hybrids. Hybrids like Tyler. A hybrid like the one that Jeremy had to behead. The sound of the doorbell pulled her out of her reverie and she walked to the door. When she opened it there was no one there and she looked down to see a folded sheet of thick paper. She picked it up and opened it up. It was an invite to the original ball. She rolled her eyes, so much for the enemy in the coffin being a danger to everyone. Esther was throwing a ball with all of her kids. Clearly Klaus had just told her not to open because he didn't want them to find Esther. There was a box underneath the invitation and she picked that up to before flipping over the invitation and seeing a note scribbled in an elegant hand.

_Caroline. I would be honoured if you would join me at the ball tonight, and save me a dance. I hope to see you there. _

_Klaus._

She smiled slightly at the note, somehow no matter how much she didn't trust him or how she still had feelings for Tyler, he still managed to create an entirely new kind of butterflies flutter in her stomach. She opened the box and seen a beautiful dress nestled in tissue paper. It had thick straps and it flowed gracefully down in layers of tulle. It was bluish green and it was beautiful. In theory she didn't want to wear it because he had sent it for her, but it was so perfect for the event that she felt compelled.

Later that evening Damon and Stefan arrived at the ball and walked through the door. Damon saw all the originals huddled together on the stairs talking and Damon felt a quick stab of betrayal from Klaus. Which was stupid in his opinion, Klaus never gave them any reason to trust them. He heard the doors open and Caroline walked in with a bluish green dress and had the privilege of watching Klaus's eyes almost pop out of his head. He walked at a normal speed over to where she was standing.

"You look ravishing." he said taking her gloved hand and kissing the back of it.

"You clean up well too." she admitted.

"Thank you." he said.  
>"Why are you doing this? Why the dress? Why the bracelet? Why are you being kind to me?" she asked.<p>

"Because I find myself liking you." he said.

"You cant like me and want to kill my best friend at the same time." she said.

"I'm glad you decided to wear the dress, and the bracelet." he said.

"I didn't have a choice. It was the only thing I could find. Where did you get the bracelet?" she asked.

"It was something I had lying around.' he said.

"Ah." she answered feeling oddly comfortable around him.

Damon watched Caroline canoodle with Klaus he rolled his eyes until he saw the door open again. His jaw admittedly dropped and like Klaus's earlier his eyes practically popped out of his head. He watched as Elena walked into the room and all eyes were on her. He walked over to her and offered her his arm. Since she was here anyways may as well make the most of it.

"You look beautiful." he said.

"You don't look so bad yourself." she said leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. He was only vaguely aware when the original family started speaking. But when he heard the familiar music of the waltz he took Elena into his arms and danced with her gracefully.

"You do know this changes nothing right?" he clarified.

"Of course." she said.

"Good. At least you're seeing sense now." he said smiling. She sighed and looked around the hall for Stefan who was standing by the wall. Elena seen Matt dancing with Rebekah and the idea scared her, and Klaus and Caroline dancing. Caroline looked almost happy and that idea scared her too. As far as they still knew Klaus was the bad guy, the villain. When the dance ended Elena kissed Damon quickly before moving off to talk to other people while Damon did the same. Elena went off in search of Stefan who she found easily.

"I need your help. I have to talk to Esther." she said.

"I'll do whatever you want." he said. She nodded and told him her plan. When he was gone, she sent Damon a quick text to meet her upstairs, she needed to talk to him. He was upstairs moments later.

"I got your text." he said.

"Good." she said nervously. She absolutely hated what she was about to do to him, it would definitely without a doubt be a betrayal or sorts, and knew he would be murderously angry at her.

"You call. I come, I'm easy like that." he said smiling. She smiled faintly at him and took a deep breath.

"What's wrong?" he asked seeing the pain in her eyes. She didn't have time to answer as Stefan snuck up behind him and broke his neck.

"You better hurry. He's not going to stay dead for long." he said. She nodded and rushed out of the room. She hated herself at the moment, but if in the long run this kept them all save then so be it.

She knocked on the closed door where Esther was and another original opened the door.

"Finn, leave us." Esther said. Finn nodded and shut the door behind him.

"I bet you want to know why I called you here." she said.

"Yes I do." she answered taking a seat on a plush white couch.

"I want your help to destroy my son." she said.

"Klaus?" she clarified.

"Yes. And I need your help to do it." she said.

"is that really the only way to go? I know he's done terrible things to all of us and you especially. Do we need to kill him?" she asked.

"Girl, he is an abomination. All of my children are. They all need to be destroyed." she said.

"Yes to Rebekah and to the other two. But Klaus and Elijah. They're not so bad at the moment." she said.

"Klaus is unpredictable and can change at the drop of a dime. Elijah is so moral. I do feel bad for him." she said.

"My best friend is getting to know the real Klaus and she seems to like him. Just reconsider this." Elena said.

"My children are an abomination and need to die Elena. Your blood is the way to do it. I just need one drop." she said.

"I cant. Not right now. I would need to think on it." she said.

"What is there to think about? You want the original's dead and so do I. We are partners." she said.

"This seems wrong though. And besides I've lost enough blood to your family to last me a lifetime. Even one drop I need to be really careful about. It never ends up being one drop. I don't trust anyone in your family except maybe Elijah." she said.

"So we are unable to make a deal at this moment." Esther concluded.

"We are. I have to go." she said.

"Where are you taking me?" Caroline asked Klaus.

"I want to show you one of my pastimes. Let you get to know me a little." he said. She let him pull her down the hallway into a room. They walked over to a table that was littered with pictures.

"Did you do these?" she asked.

"Yes." he answered honestly.

"They're amazing." she said.

"Can you be honest with me?" he asked.

"Sure." she said shrugging her shoulders.

"Are you still in love with Tyler? Or is there a part of you that wants something with me?" he asked.

"I don't know how to answer that question. The you I've got to know whenever we've been together I like a lot. But the other you who is trying to take over the world I do not. I hate that guy because he killed my best friend granted she got brought back to life. So it all depends on who you want to be. I have to go. I need some fresh air." she said. Klaus watched her walk away. She was so honest and he appreciated that. Caroline walked outside where she saw a beautiful horse in a pen.

"Hi" she said to the animal as she started stroking its neck.

"You like horses?" he asked coming out to stand next to her.

"Yes." she said smiling back at him. This was the Klaus she liked.

"I've always loved horses. Especially one I had long ago. My father killed him by severing his head. That was the closest he ever came to harming me." he said.

"They're beautiful and so strong." she whispered.

"Like someone else." he said pulling his jacket off and slipping onto Caroline even though she really didn't need it.

"That was sweet. It was a decidedly un-you thing to do." she said.

"Maybe you don't really know me." he said.

"Maybe you should give me a chance." she said.

"I have been giving you a chance. What do you think I've been doing all night?" he demanded.

" I want to get to know this Klaus. Not the one you show off in front of people." she told him.

"What's the difference?" he asked.

"Because this Klaus is the same one that saved my life. And is the one guy that might make me forget about Tyler." she told him. This floored him for a moment and she took his jacket off and walked back inside.

When Elena came back downstairs she met up with a very angry Damon. He had a scowl on his face that immediately made her worry.

"I'm sorry." she stated immediately as she made her way towards him.

"First I ask you to please stay home for this party. And you come here anyways. Then I ask you not to talk to Esther and you do it anyways. What's next am I going to have to beg you not to do something?" he asked trying to keep his voice level.

"Damon. I'm not going to help her. I said no." she said.

"You think that matters? How do you think it felt to wake up after Stefan broke my neck? I was fine with that at first. It meant he was fighting back and it gave me a reason to kick the hell out of him. But then he tells me this little gem. He said you asked him to. I was shocked to say the least and that little betrayal wasn't as bad as to find out you went to talk to Esther and thought that killing me was a suitable way to get there." he spat.

"I'm not going to apologize. I would if I did something wrong. But I didn't. I'm going to save all our lives, yours included. Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" she demanded.

"Maybe because I love you Elena." he shouted.

"Maybe that's the problem." she found herself saying even though that was the furthest thing from her mind. Her love for Damon and vice versa was not a problem, it was the best thing in her life. She could see the immediate change in him. He quickly resembled the guy she used to know and he just walked away from her.

"Damon, I didn't mean that." she said.

"it seems like the truth is coming out tonight. So you know what Elena. I don't care anymore. Is that what you want? Me not to care? Well you got your wish." he said as he left the house.

"Do you need a ride home?" Stefan asked from behind her.

"Apparently." she said following him out the door. She seen Damon's car was gone and she sighed. Maybe tomorrow when they were less tense and this night was gone, she'd be able to talk to him. But tonight wasn't a good idea. He was unpredictable when he was angry and he was angry at her.

"Is there a chance that you could ever love me again?" Stefan asked when he dropped her off at her house.

"I'm not Katherine, Stefan." she said.

"I heard you fighting with Damon. It doesn't sound like there is much left for you two anymore." he said hopefully.

"One fight wont change how I feel for Damon. And I hope the same vice versa. I love him Stefan and I always will. I'm going to fix this tomorrow." she said.

"I guess I can understand that." he sighed.

"Thank you." she said opening the car door.

"Do you regret what we did to Damon tonight?" he asked her.

"Yes, more than anything. I love him Stefan and hurting him whether physical or otherwise is the last thing I want to do." she said before shutting the door and walking inside.

Meanwhile Damon walked into the Grill and seen Rebekah talking with Matt. He smirked when he turned her down and Rebekah sat pouting at the bar.

"Rough night?" he asked.

"Yeah. It sucked." she said.

"He's too fragile for you." he said.

"Really?" she asked staring up at him.

"You need someone more durable." he said hinting. The next thing he knew they were making out in the entry way of his house and clothes were quickly being shed.

The next morning Damon woke up on the living room floor and seen Rebekah dressing.

"As fun as last night was. I have to go." she said.

"Yeah. That's probably a good idea. Last night was a big big, massive colossal mistake." he said sitting up.

"I don't care for Elena's feelings. But it wasn't right. I don't even like you. Well I'll see you around." she said walking out of his house. He was relieved that that had ended easier than he thought it would. But now he had the problem that he had essentially cheated on Elena even though he didn't quite know what they were at the moment.

"Oooh what happened in here?" Stefan asked coming downstairs.

"You know damn well what happened here?" he grunted as he pulled his pants on.

"What is Elena going to think when she comes over?" he asked.

"I don't know. You know how I get when I stop caring." he said sitting down.

"Oh yes I do. The funny thing is she thinks you and her are going to work through this. How do you think she's going to feel when she finds out you slept with Rebekah?" he asked. He didn't have to wait long because they heard the tentative knock on the door that he immediately knew was her.

"I'll be leaving now and waiting with open arms for Elena to find out that it will always be Stefan." he said walking away. Damon went to open the door and Elena stepped in around him.

"Hi." she said.

"Hey." he answered awkwardly. They had never been awkward around each other before.

"So I wanted to apologize for last night. I was out of line and I hated what I did to you, or had Stefan do to you." she said.

"I slept with Rebekah." he shot out needing to get it off his chest.

"What?" she asked not sure if she heard correctly.

"I slept with Rebekah last night." he said. Elena stiffened and turned her back on him not willing to let him see her cry before fleeing the house.

Caroline woke up in the morning to find a rolled up paper on her bedside table. She smiled and picked it up. It smelt of Klaus and she unrolled it. On the paper was a picture of her and the horse, it was beyond beautiful. This was the man she knew she could possibly love at some point. He was wonderful. Gestures like this made her like him even more.

_Thank you for last night. I hope to share another night with you if you'll let me. Klaus. _

She smiled at the note debating whether or not to call him.

Damon chased Elena outside and grasped her upper arms forcing her to face him.

"Stop. Let me explain." he said.

"Why should I? You slept with Rebekah of all people. Rebekah! Why should I listen to anything you say?" she demanded. "Because the things I do in a fit of rage never make sense and I always regret them." he said.

"That doesn't excuse it." she said.

"And you said that me loving you was a problem and in the back of my mind that meant we were over and you were done. So I did my usual reaction, I fell into bed with someone else." he explained.

"It wasn't over for me. I never even meant what I said. It slipped out before I could stop it because I was angry. You say things you don't mean all the time." she said.

"I know. I am so sorry, but we woke up this morning and both knew it was a mistake. Elena I don't want anyone but you." he said sliding his hands down her arms and taking her hands.

"I'm sorry." she repeated.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Even if you leave right now. I've always known I don't deserve you, and now this just cements that." he said.

"You thought we were over?" she asked.

"I did. And it was still wrong." he said

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have came to the ball and I shouldn't have talked to Esther and I shouldn't have had Stefan break your neck. Watching him do that almost killed me." she said resting her head on his chest.

"It's not your fault. How about we just forget about it and move past it." he suggested.

"How do I know that you don't want Rebekah? Clearly she's willing to give you more than I am." she said.

"We both figured out that there is nothing between us. She likes Matt and maybe still Stefan. I love you." he said.

"Even though I'm pathetic and human, and weak?" she asked.

"Because you are not pathetic. And your humanity makes me feel like I can protect you. I love knowing that I can protect you from almost everything. You're also the strongest person I've ever met." he told her kissing her forehead.

"I had the "I'm not Katherine" speech with Stefan last night. He wants me to reconsider him." she said.

"And what did you say?' he asked a small amount of worry coating his voice.

"I told him that I am not Katherine. And I said one fight wont change the way we feel about each other." she said.

"That is true. I like you far too much to let a fight ruin what we have. I have waited three years for just a chance with you." he said.

"Yeah. But from now on you have to let me stand by your side. Not behind you. We are a team. You cant always protect me and I cant always protect you. We have to work together." she said firmly.

"Deal. No more suicide missions." he said.

"Deal." she agreed before hugging him tighter to her. The fight wasn't forgotten and she still hurt that he decided to sleep with Rebekah, but she wasn't willing to lose him over it at the moment especially when it was her fault. She knew without even looking into her future he was there and she was still in love with him.


	8. Chapter 8

Not sure how I feel about this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. Let me know what you think.

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><p>The next week brought some sort of perspective for Elena. After her moment of desperation with Damon last week, she realized that she should not have responded the way she did. She should not have forgiven him because she was incapable of losing him. In reality she only said what she said because she was afraid of him crawling back into bed with Rebekah. So that was why she was currently ignoring every message he sent and avoiding his calls. She had Ric tell him she didn't want to see him. She knew he was confused, she knew he thought they were good. Essentially he had cheated on her, and that didn't sit well with her. He cheated on her with Rebekah the woman who had tried to kill her on more than one occasion. Hearing her phone vibrate on her bedside table she checked it even though she knew who it was before she even looked. Damon. She rolled over away from the phone intent on ignoring it. She got madder and madder the longer she avoided him. It went from blinding pain and hurt to a powerful anger. She knew it was selfish but she still didn't want to lose him, but she refused to talk to him either.<p>

"Damn it." he said when she didn't answer yet another call. Damn her. Damn Ric. Damn Caroline and damn Bonnie. He was going to see her whether they wanted him or not. For the past week they had been very effective body guards and he didn't even know what he did wrong. She had said she was okay after he confessed his tryst with Rebekah. He walked down the stairs and ran into Stefan in the entrance way.

"Off to plead with Elena some more?" he asked sardonically.

"What's it to you?" he demanded not having the patience for Stefan's antics.

" Well you cheated on her. You screwed Rebekah. I'm pretty sure its over for you. It's only a matter of time before she comes back to me." he said.

"That's where you're wrong brother I worked so hard to get Elena to give me a shot. I'm not giving that up." he said.

"Good luck with that. But just so you know it will always be Stefan." he quoted. Damon chose not to dignify Stefan with a response and just walked out of the house slamming the door behind him. He drove to Elena's house and seen Ric pacing the kitchen talking on the phone.

"Damn it." Damon said driving around the block and parking a little ways away until Alaric left. By now he knew Alaric's schedule well and if he kept to it he would be leaving in a little while. It was Sunday and that was the day he usually went to sit by Jenna's grave for a while just to spend time with her. As predicted he seen Ric's car pull out of the driveway and Damon pulled up. Not bothering to knock he walked in and up the stairs to her bedroom. Yet again he decided against knocking and just walked into the bedroom causing Elena to snap up in bed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.

"We need to talk." he said.

"There is nothing to say. I don't want to talk to you." she insisted.

"Well too bad. You've avoided me for a week. The only reason I know nothing happened to you is because Ric has kept me posted. I'm sick of it." he said crossing his arms across his chest.

"I don't want to talk to you." she said.

"Stop acting like a petulant child and speak to me. Now is not the time to ignore me, when there are so many big bads out there needing your blood." he said his tone a bit softer.

"Fine. You want me to speak. You want me to tell you why I don't want to speak to you. Fine then I will. How about I'm humiliated that you chose Rebekah of all people to sleep with. And the fact that you slept with her only to get back at me for saying something that I never meant. I still cant believe that you slept with Rebekah after everything she's done to me. She's tried to kill me Damon. So all of that is the reason I'm mad at you." she said her anger dying down throughout her tirade.

"You're pissed because I slept with Rebekah. You said that you would get over it." he responded.

"I lied. The idea of you sleeping with her makes me sick to my stomach. And the idea that somewhere in my mind I think that you went to her because she is offering something that I cant. I said that it was okay only to protect myself from you going to sleep with her again. I couldn't take it if you did that. But for right now, I don't want to be anywhere around you either." she said sighing.

"What can she offer that you cant Elena?" he asked taking a tentative step towards her.  
>"Sex. I'm not willing to go there yet, but Rebekah is more than willing to sleep with anyone." she said completely deflated.<p>

"And I'm fine with you not being ready. Sure I will love it when you're finally ready to be with me like that. But since you're not yet. I'm not going out searching for someone else to satisfy that urge Elena. I can wait." he said.

"Then why did you sleep with her?" she asked.

"Because I was mad at you. I was so pissed that I decided that we were over and it didn't matter what I did. I was a bit over dramatic, I'll admit that but you shouldn't have said what you said." he said.

"I know, but I told you I didn't mean it. You should have known that I didn't mean it." she said lowering her head.

"When it comes to you I never know. You've always been so hot and cold with me. And honestly I don't blame you. But I'm sick of being ignored, and I'm not going to take it anymore. So when you want to talk, I'm all ears. But until then, I'll leave you alone. I'm not going to let you call all the shots here Elena." he said walking out of the room. Elena watched him leave she sat back down on the bed after standing stiff in front of him for so long. He made her so mad all of the time but yet not having him around paralyses her. He made her passionate, and that was sometimes a good thing but sometimes not.

Damon walked downstairs much happier than when he got there. He couldn't let her call the shots anymore, and exerting some control made him feel more in control. It felt amazing. He opened the front door just as Ric walked up the front walk.

"Damon, what are you doing here?" he asked wearily.

"Confronting my girlfriend. I'll be leaving now. There is a bottle of bourbon at my house calling my name." he said brushing past him. Alaric shook his head watching Damon leave. He chuckled slightly those two were either fighting or making out. There was no half way between them, it was passion no matter what.

"Elena? Care to explain that?" Ric called upstairs.

"I guess so. He's mad at me, I'm mad at him. It's not good." she said.

"I can see that. Apparently there is a bottle of bourbon calling his name." Alaric said repeating what Damon told him.

"Of course there is. Damon is upset... drink. Damon is happy...drink. Damon is sad...drink. Damon is mad...drink. It's his go to response for everything." she said.

"It's worked out for him thus far." Alaric reminded her.

"So he says. I don't know if he knows what works. He just drinks as a reflex." she said.

"Maybe." Alaric allowed.

"It doesn't really matter. He's right though about everything he said." she said.

"If he's right then what is the problem?" he asked.

"I'm insecure about it now. I'm insecure about his feelings for me. He just fell into bed with Rebekah after I said one thing that I didn't mean. But yet he acts like its not a big deal and he never pushes me or acts like he wants anything from me. We haven't even talked about it." she said.

"Okay, this went from uncomfortable to awkward. I don't want to hear about how you're planning on sleeping with Damon." Ric said sounding disgusted.

"I'm sorry. But that's the thing, I'm not planning on it. I'm just wondering if it will make him stop sleeping around." she said.

"He's only slept around once Elena. This one time with Rebekah was the only time he's cheated." he explained.

"When you call it cheating it makes me unsure whether or not I should forgive him. I honestly don't know what to do." she said running her hand through her head and laying back on the bed.

"Fine. Do you love him?" Alaric asked.

"Yes." Elena answered without any hesitance whatsoever.

"Did you consider it cheating when you found out?" he asked.

"Not really. After that fight he was sure it was over. He did what he does when he's upset." she said.

"Now look into the future. Imagine your life a couple years from now, the danger is gone and you're safe. Is Damon with you?" he asked. Elena grew quiet and closed her eyes as she imagined her life.

"Yes." she answered.

"There you go. Don't ruin it." Alaric said before walking out of the room.

After deliberating for the entire night Caroline finally decided to call Klaus. Before she could pick up the phone there was a knock on the door. She walked over to the door and saw Tyler standing on the doorstep.

"Hey." he said looking at the porch.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I need to ask you something. Do you like Klaus?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. At least he's being honest with me." she said.

"Klaus is the enemy Caroline. He is the enemy. The bad guy. Don't you remember he killed Elena?" he asked.

"He tried to kill Elena, you tried to kill Damon. You're not so different after all. But at least Klaus is trying." she said crossing her arms across her chest.

"So you're just giving up on me?" he asked shocked.

"I gave up on you a while ago." she said softly shutting the door and pulling out her phone resolved on calling Klaus.

Elena took a deep breath from outside the boarding house before walking in. She didn't see Damon's car in front of the house. She walked in the house and Stefan appeared from the parlour.

"Elena. How are you?" he asked.

"I'm here to see Damon. Is he here?" she asked.

"No. I don't know where he is. Can we talk?" he asked.

"We said everything that needed to be said that night Stefan. I am not Katherine and I don't want you both. I just want Damon." she said.

"How did you go from "it will always be Stefan" to "it will always be Damon."?" he asked.

"He was always there, and I slowly grew to love him. It snuck up on me but I think he was right all along. I have felt something all along for him. But I'm going to wait for him in his room. He's got to come home sometime." she said. Stefan nodded and went back into the parlour and poured himself a glass of Damon's favourite bourbon.

Damon came home to find Stefan sulking in the parlour and he chose to ignore him just intending on going upstairs to shower and then drink some more. He walked into his bedroom and found Elena asleep on his bed. Glancing at his watch he saw that it was 10pm. He wondered how long she'd been there.

"Elena?" he asked shaking her softly.

"Hmmm. Damon." she said opening her eyes and rubbing all traces of sleep from her eyes.

"When did you get here?" he asked.

"A few hours ago. Where were you?" she asked sitting up.

"The Grille. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk to you." she answered completely forgetting what she was going to say to him.

"About?" he probed.

"Us. I'm sorry Damon. I shouldn't have ignored you for a week. And I'm sorry for freaking out. And I'm sorry for being awful to you today." she listed.

"You don't have to be sorry. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to avoid me for eternity." he said.

"But that's not what I want. I'm here because I'm done fighting with you. I'm done hating you, and I'm done not being with you. I miss you Damon." she said pulling him closer to her.

"I missed you too." he told her before kissing her softly at first before it grew in passion.

"I want you." she told him when they broke apart.

"Are you sure?" he asked knowing what she meant.

"Yes. I want you." she repeated her voice firm. She kissed him again and pulled his shirt over his head before pulling him down astride her body.


	9. Chapter 9

Hope you enjoy. And as always let me know what you think.

PS I own nothing but my ideas and writing.

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><p>Even though there was an angry witch, a hybrid that may or may not be their biggest enemy, and a whole family of original vampires out there waiting for them, they had never felt better or safer than when they were lying in each others arms.<p>

"I love you so much. Thank you for letting me get here on my own." she said.

"I love you too." he told her kissing the tip of her nose. She smiled and buried her face deep into his chest, completely unwilling to move an inch. There was nothing that could hurt them when they were here together.

"Do you need anything?" he asked.

"Some water would be nice." she admitted.

"I'll be right back." he said getting out of bed and pulling a pair of black sweat pants and opening the door. She smiled at him as he walked away.

Damon noticed that Stefan wasn't around and knew he was probably still upstairs sleeping. It would be poetic justice is he was because then he would know how it felt to hear Elena and him together all night like he had done with Stefan and Elena for two years. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and walked back upstairs. Her eyes were closed and she had a small smile on her face when he walked back into the room. He closed the door and went back to the bed, sliding in close to her. She instinctively moved closer to him wrapped her arms across his waist. He smiled and kissed her hair. When she woke up a little while later, he heard her stomach growl

"I guess you need food now huh?" he asked smiling.

"Yep. I'll come with you." she said swinging her legs out the other side of the king sized bed. She found a t shirt on the floor of his and she pulled it on. The shirt came down to mid thigh on her so she didn't need to put anything else on with it.

"I'm ready." she said.

"You look so hot in my shirt." he noted as they walked downstairs together. He led her into the kitchen and raided the fridge looking for something edible for her to eat.

"How about eggs? I'm afraid I don't have much food in here right now." he said

"Eggs are fine." she said moving over to wrap her arms around his waist as he cracked the eggs into a bowl and started mixing them.

"How did you know I liked my eggs scrambled?" she asked.

"I've seen you have them this way a thousand times." he told her revelling in her arms being wrapped around him. They both heard the front door open and close. They both turned their heads at the same time to see Stefan strolling in.

"Oh it seems you two worked out your issues." he said.

"We did. It's all good now." Elena said.

"I guess I could say I'm happy for you but that would be a lie." he said sitting down at the table.

"And we don't really need you to be happy for us." he said scooping the now cooked eggs onto a plate and handing it to her. He found a fork in one of the drawers and handed it to her and she began eating.

"These are really good." she marvelled as she chewed.

"Their scrambled eggs, not that hard to make." he said dryly.

"But they are delicious." she said.

"Maybe they're just delicious because you're so hungry after all the fun we had last night." he said deliberately rubbing it in Stefan's face.

"You slept with him?" Stefan demanded.

"I thought the fact that I am standing in the kitchen dressed only in one of his shirts would have pointed that fact out." Elena said dryly.

"That is disgusting. You do know now Damon that this is the second woman we've shared intimately, and they look identical. You should know how this turns out, they always choose me." he said.

"I'm not sharing Elena, she is mine. And maybe this time she wont choose you. Katherine chose you because she has terrible taste in men. Elena chose me." Damon said.

"You didn't give her much of a choice did you? I mean you did just walk up and kiss her." Stefan pouted.

"Now you're just not making any sense Stefan." Damon said staring straight ahead at his brother. "Are you finished?" he asked Elena

"Yeah." she said handing him the plate. He put it in the sink and took her hand. She willingly followed him back upstairs to his bedroom.

"Stefan is even broodier now." Elena noted.

"Yeah, that's just because I now have your body and your heart. He doesn't have anything." he said going over to his closet and digging out some clothes.

"Well it looks like I'm going to have to do the walk of shame into my house. Can I take a shower?" she said taking his shirt off.

" Of course, and it's not a walk of shame unless you're ashamed of it." he said.

"I'm not." she assured him.

"Good. Then we will walk into your house together. Ric will see you're still in the same clothes as last night and he will probably have a heart attack." he said buttoning up a dark blue shirt over his body.

"That colour looks so good on you." she whispered.

"Then I'll be sure to wear it more often." he smirked. She grinned at him before walking into the bathroom and turning the water on. A few minutes later she emerged dressed in the same clothes she wore last night.

"Well lets go." she said.

"After you." he said gesturing for her to lead the way. They walked downstairs and seen Stefan sulking in the living room but neither had the patience to stop and comfort him. They walked out the front door and walked to Elena's car.

"I figure I will ride over with you, and then just run back home." he said.

"Sounds good to me. But who said you would even be going home?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"Good point." he allowed. He got in the passenger seat of the car, deciding to let her drive. She started up the engine and they drove to her house, she took a deep breath seeing Ric's car in the driveway.

"Let's get this over with. He wont be too happy to know I slept with you. He thinks I should have waited longer." she said.

"Oh well. I can wait to witness Alaric having a conniption." Damon said following Elena into the house.

"Ric. I'm home." she called.

"Oh hello Elena. Oh its you too." he said seeing Damon at the door.

"Hello to you too buddy." he said clapping him on the shoulder.

"Why didn't you come home last night?" Ric asked Elena, aware he sounded just like a worried father.

"I spent the night with Damon." she answered.

" And you're freshly showered. You've never showed after a night there with him... Oh my God you slept with him." he said shocked. "You seduced her." he accused Damon.

"Actually it was all me. I seduced him." she said to Ric who was currently wielding a stake at his supposed best friend. Damon had the sense to actually look worried for a moment before Ric put the stake down.

"You do know who he is right? It was one thing to date him, but to sleep with him? That is most likely a mistake. He sleeps with women then leaves them." he explained.

"Wow, thanks for the support buddy." Damon said dryly.

"It's true though. Now that you got her into bed, how long are you going to stick around for?" he asked.

"Probably the same amount of time I would have if she hadn't slept with me." he said.

"Oh. Well okay then. I'll go put this away." he said motioning to the stake sitting on the table beside him.

"That's a good idea." Damon said. Elena sighed in relief when Ric put the stake away.

"Let's go." she said.

"You want me in your bedroom? How scandalous." he said smirking as he followed her up the stairs.

"Shut up." she said laughing.

"I don't want Ric to come after me again. I almost feared for my life back there." he said shuddering.

"Shut up." she said still laughing at him.

"I like your laugh." he said when they were in her bedroom.

"I like laughing. It feels so free, so happy." she said wrapping her arms around him.

"I want you to be happy. I like it when you're happy." he told her.

"You look happy too." she noted.

"I am. For the first time in over a century I am actually happy." he admitted.

"I'm glad." she said before reaching up and kissing him.

After she got a hold of Klaus, Caroline invited him over. He sounded more than a little surprised on the phone but he quickly agreed to come over. When she heard him knock on the door she answered it with a small smile on her face.

"Hi." she said stepping aside for him to come in.

"Hello. You look lovely." he said of her jeans and t shirt combo.

"No I don't." she said.

"Yes you do. You look perfect." he said honestly.

"Right." she said smiling slightly.

"So Caroline why are you giving me a chance. As far as you're concerned I am still the bad guy who wants Elena's blood more than anything?" he asked honestly confused by her choice.

"Maybe because right now I want to believe that you're good. That you're not the evil jerk that you pretend to be." she said.

"But I am that person." he told her.

"If you are then kill me. I dare you to kill me, because I am Elena's best friend and I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. So in the end I will just be in the way. So you might as well kill me now." she said standing before him.

"No. I would never hurt you Caroline." he admitted.

"So maybe you aren't the bad guy that you like to think you are." she offered.

"I don't know Caroline." he shook his head.

"It's okay. Lets just talk about something else." she said of the utter look of uncertainty on his face.

"Thank you." he said.

"No problem. So when did you start drawing. That picture was incredible." she said.

"A long long long time ago. Centuries before you were born." he said.

"You are really good at it. I wish I was good at something like that." she said.

"I'm sure there is something." he said.

"No. I'm just Caroline, captain of the cheerleaders, Miss Mystic Falls. I don't have any talents." she said.

"Everyone has a talent. You just have to find it." he said.

"I don't." she said firmly.

"Well you are irrestible Caroline. Maybe that is your talent." he said. She laughed and stared at him.

"I think you should take me out on another date." she said.

"I think you are right. Do you need back up this time?" she asked.

"No. I think I'd like to be alone with you this time." she said.

"Sounds good. I will pick you up at 7." he said standing up.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"well in my time the man picked the woman up. He didn't spend the entire day with her, and besides I need to come up with a unique date idea." he said.

"Alright. What should I wear?" she asked.

"I will call you when I figure it out." he told her before striding out of the house.

"Now what do we do mother?" Finn asked Esther.

"I do not know. I don't know what to do without the blood of the doppelganger." she said pacing the floor.

"There has to be something." he said.

"Yes there has to be. But I cant seem to think of anything." she said rubbing her temples.

"I do wish I didn't have to die too mother, but the world must be rid of vampires." he said.

"Yes. I do feel sorry for you." she said continuing to pace.

"Well if the doppelganger doesn't give up her blood what do we do?" he asked.

"There is one option." she said.

"What is it?" he asked.

"If she wont give it. All we have to do is take it through force." she said.

"But doesn't that ruin your plan to make them think that you're only trying to kill Niklaus?" he asked.

"Yes, but they are growing closer to Niklaus. Especially Elena Gilbert's vampire best friend Caroline Forbes." she said.

"Yes that could be a problem." Finn agreed.

"So I suggest we just take the doppelgangers blood by force." Esther said.


	10. Chapter 10

After an insanely long wait here we go. I honestly couldnt figure out what to do with this story after Damon turned Abby on the show. I didnt know how to incorporate that into it. Things are going to be rough for a while in this story, and I hope you like how this went. Let me know what you think.

PS I own nothing.

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><p>"How do we propose we do that mother?" Finn asked Esther.<p>

"We have to get her alone, and then we kill her. She wouldn't help us willingly, so now we have to take it by force and show her who's boss." Esther said darkly.

"She has the Salvatore brothers, and the vampire hunter, the witch and Caroline Forbes to protect her." Finn said.

"Yes but I'm sure Rebekah will be with us, Kol. Niklaus and Elijah are questionable. There is a lot of bad blood between Elena and Rebekah, and Rebekah would be glad to kill her." Esther said sitting down.

"But you still want to kill all of us mother. Don't get me wrong mother, I am all for dying for the cause. But Rebekah is selfish and Kol wants to stay alive too." Finn stated.

"Well then they must never find out." Esther said finally.

"You have to go to school Elena. You're safe right now. Caroline has Klaus distracted, so he wont be trying to kill you. You turned down Esther. And I'm around if you need anything, and Ric will be there at the school with you. You'll be fine." Damon assured her.

"But I don't want to go, isn't it a little unreasonable to think that school is even worthwhile right now. It's not like I'm going to live through the year or even make it to graduation." she noted.

"You will make it to graduation because I am going to make sure of it. But in order to graduate you have to go to school." he said

"I'm not going to win this fight am I?" she asked.

"Nope, now get your hot body out to the car. I will drive you." he said ushering her out of the house.

"Fine. You're so pushy." she muttered with his hand on her back as he pushed her out to the car.

"And you love it." he said with a smirk on his face. The same smirk that ever since she met him, she had a hard time figuring out whether she wanted to smack it from his face or kiss it. Now she was sure she wanted to kiss it away although she wasn't about to tell him that. She didn't need his ego growing anymore than it already was. When he pulled up in front of the school, she leaned in and kissed him before getting out of the car.

"I'll see you after school." she said.

"I'll be here." he stated. Elena walked towards her friends, and sat down.

"Damon drove you?" Caroline asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, what about that?" she asked.

"Are you sleeping together?" she asked and everyone elses eyebrows raised.

"We may be, I'm not talking about that with you." Elena said blushing a scarlet colour.

"Oh my God you are. You're having sex with Damon Salvatore!" Caroline exclaimed much too loud.

"Caroline. Shush." she stated.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into Lena? You know how I feel about Damon." Bonnie stated.

|"I know. But I know who he is and I love him for who he is. I trust him with my life. I'm in love with him." she said trying to get her other best friend to be okay with her relationship.

"It was hard enough to get used to you and Stefan, and he was the good brother. But Damon... he's the reason my Grams is dead." Bonnie stated sadly.

"I know. But cant you let it go? And trust me when I tell you that he's changed. For the better. He's not the bad brother anymore. Granted he may be the sarcastic, jackass, egotistical brother, but he's also kind, loving, protective brother." she said with a lovestruck expression on her face.

"You say the bad adjectives as if they're good too." Matt noted.

"Because they are. Everything that he is makes up who he is." she told them.

"Anyways change of subject. I'm dating Klaus." Caroline interjected.

"Whoa. You guys are dating now?" Elena asked shocked.

"Yeah. I like him." Caroline said all giddy.

Damon walked back into the house intent on pouring himself a drink when he saw Abby sitting on the couch obviously waiting for him.

"Can I help you?" he asked seeing her sitting there.

"I want to talk to you." she said.

"About?" he asked wearily. He did not have a good history with Bennett witches and would like to protect his brain as much as he could.

"Elena Gilbert. As you know she is my daughters best friend and I simply do not think you're right for her." Abby said definitively.

"And what makes you think that I even care?" he asked upset that this woman thought she could walk into his house and question his relationship with Elena.

"You should. I don't care how you do it, but you have to end things with Elena. You don't deserve her." Abby stated coldly.

"And why the hell do you think I'm going to listen to you?" he asked crossing her arms and giving her a menacing glare.

"You just are. Bonnie told me that you are the reason her Grams is dead. And you are more or less the cause of all the problems here in Mystic Falls. It's all your fault. So maybe you should just back out." Abby suggested standing up.

"And I say go to hell." Damon said firmly.

"You know I can hurt you." Abby stated.

"How do you intend on doing that when you have no powers?" he asked.

"Bonnie will help. Together we can channel through her and make the aneurysm feel that much worse." she warned him.

"I suggest you get out of my house before I do something that I will regret." she said.

"It doesn't matter to me what you suggest. Besides you cant do anything to me and on top of that you wont. And once Esther acquires Elena's blood Bonnie and I are going to help dispose of the originals." she said proudly.

"No chance in hell." Damon spat.

"I thought you wanted the originals gone?" she questioned.

"Not when Elena's blood is what's going to do it and besides I trust Klaus more than I do Esther. I want the enemy I know rather than the enemy I don't know." he decided.

"There is nothing you can do to stop me. I want all the abominations gone, and that includes you." Abby stated stabbing her finger into Damon's chest.

"Well you cant do anything if you're not a witch anymore." he stated as realization dawned on him. Abby was willing to put Elena in danger in order to get rid of vampires.

"I am a witch, Damon. That wont change." she said.

"You cant be a witch and a vampire." he said before biting into his wrist and shoving it into Abby's mouth. She screamed and fought but her strength was no match for his and soon she succumbed. When she had enough he snapped her neck and she collapsed. He waited a couple hours until she woke up all groggy.

"What did you do?" she demanded sitting up from the spot on the floor.

"You're not a witch anymore. Esther has to find a new set of blood related witches." he said gleefully.

"I'm in transformation." she said it dawning on her.

"You sure are. You have a choice to make." he said.

"I will never become like you. I am going home." Abby said getting up and leaving the house. Once she was gone he felt bad, he knew Elena wasn't going to agree with his decision, but it had to be done. Esther was clearly still trying to get Elena's blood, and she seemed confident that she would get it. So confident in fact that she had talked to Abby and Bonnie about doing the spell.

"Oooh who did you kill?" Stefan said walking into the house.

"Abby Bennett, she is in transformation." he said.

"Well, I guess now there's no reason for me to panic. You're not going to have Elena anymore after tonight when you tell her." Stefan said smiling.

"It had to be done. This was for her safety. This way Esther cant use her blood." he insisted.

"And do you honestly think Elena is going to look at it that way?" he asked. Damon sighed knowing Stefan was right, but regardless he wouldn't take it back. It had to be done.

When it became time for Damon to pick Elena up from school he drove over there and parked where he parked when he dropped her off. She got in the car and leaned in for a kiss. He kissed her back briefly but pulled back.

"What's wrong?" she asked knowing something was wrong.

"I did something today, and now before I tell you. Please keep in mind that I did it for you. Everything I do is for you." he stated.

"Damon what happened?" she asked wearily.

"I turned Abby Bennett." he stated without remorse.

"What? Why? What did Abby ever do to you?" she asked.

"She is helping Esther. Esther seems so sure that she's going to have your blood, that she enlisted Bonnie and Abby to help her kill the originals. I would rather keep Klaus around the enemy I know than Esther the enemy I don't know." he insisted.

"I have to see Bonnie. I have to. Take me to her." she demanded.

"I don't think that's a good idea." he stated.

"Damon, take me there. I cant be around you right now. We'll talk later." she said.

"Fine." he said starting up the car and leaving the school parking lot.

"Wait. Take me home first. I need my car." she said.

"Fine." he said, he didn't like that she would have her own car, because now she was unlikely to come over and she would be mad at him in silence. He would rather the yelling and the fighting over the silence. He dropped her off at home and she got out without saying goodbye. He drove away as she walked inside and dropped her backpack. She picked up her keys and began the drive over to Bonnie's. She drove slow, not sure what to say to her friend. Not sure what to do to make it better. When Elena pulled up and knocked on the door, she was surprised when Caroline answered the door.

"Can I see Bonnie?" she asked.

"She doesn't want to see you. She just found out her mom was killed by your boyfriend today. Granted she's in transformation but she doesn't want this." Caroline said wringing her hand.

"Just let me see her, please Care." Elena begged.

"I cant Elena. She definitely said she doesn't want to see you." Caroline said apologetically.

"Are you on her side?" Elena asked.

"There are no sides. You're my best friend and I love you. And I love seeing you in love. But Bonnie's also my best friend and I cant leave her alone on this, and I cant go against her wishes. I'm sorry Elena." Caroline said.

"I understand that." Elena decided.

"I told you he was a villain Elena. I told you he was evil, and it took for him to kill my mom for you to realize that." a teary eyed Bonnie said coming out of the spare bedroom.

"I'm so sorry Bonnie, I didn't know he would do that." Elena said stepping through Caroline over to Bonnie.

"It doesn't matter. You've defended him, and you're with him. But this was too much. I just got my mom back Elena, do you understand what that's like?" she asked.

"I never got a second chance, so I don't know Bonnie." Elena said.

"See, I got a second chance but it was ended before it even started." Bonnie said angrily. She had so much anger inside her that Elena was surprised.

"Bonnie I'm sorry. Can you just take it, and accept that." Elena begged.

"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill Damon. I should have killed him when I had the chance." she said anger and tears falling from her.

"No don't Bon. That wont solve anything." Elena begged needing to help protect Damon.

"Our friendship is over Elena, its clear that yet again you choose on of them over our friendship. And it's okay, because I don't care anymore. You are nothing to me. You've chosen him one too many times Elena." Bonnie said bitterly.

"Bon stop. Please." Elena begged. Sure she and Bonnie had fought a lot about the Salvatore brothers, but she never thought their friendship could be over. Caroline stopped Elena and gently pushed her out of the house.

"Just leave her alone. Please Elena. She needs time. She just lost her mom, she's unstable." Caroline insisted.

"Tell her I love her." Elena asked.

"I will. And she knows it." Caroline said hugging her friend. Elena hugged her back tightly before pulling away.

"Call me if she comes around." Elena said before walking back to her car.

When she got to the boarding house, she stormed inside and walked into the parlour where she knew he would be.

"How's Bonnie doing?" he asked standing up to greet her before she slapped him across the face as hard as she could. The sharp sting radiated through him and he grabbed her hand before she could hit him again.

"No." he said holding her hand tightly in his.

"This is all your fault. I've lost Bonnie now because of you. It's all because of you." she screamed at him.

"I'll be leaving now. Call me if you need anything Elena." Stefan said leaving the house.

"Don't think that you aren't at fault for this too Stefan." she said glaring at him.

"It had to be done Elena." Damon insisted not releasing her hand, mostly in fear that she would hit him again.

"What to keep me safe? Well it doesn't matter anymore. Bonnie hates me, she said I am nothing to her. Nothing to her. I lost my best friend because you are incapable of letting things fall where they may. I don't want to see you, or hear from you." she said pulling away from her and walking out of the house, desperately needing to get away from the house before she cried.


	11. Chapter 11

Well enjoy this one. after a lot of deliberation I decided to cut Sage out of this for obvious reasons. Hope you enjoy this one. Let me know what you think.

PS I own nothing.

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><p>After going home and spending the night scaring a semi sane Alaric with the force of her sobs, Elena fell into a fitful sleep. She was somewhat disappointed that Damon wasn't sitting on her window seat when she walked in her room that evening, but she was mostly relieved. She didn't know what to say to him, and she really didn't want to say anything to him. On a deeper level she understood his intense need to protect her, it was practically wired into him with the force of his love for her. A love that was matched only in hers for him. But it didn't change anything, she lost her best friend and it was technically his fault. Her mind raced all night causing her to get little or no sleep. When the sun came up the following morning Elena got up and walked downstairs where Alaric was nursing a cup of coffee.<p>

"How did you sleep?" she asked. After being arrested the previous morning, he had had a stressful day. And rumours that he was the killer were plaguing their home.

"Not well. You?" he asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Not good." she said.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Damon. Bonnie. Bonnie's not speaking to me, and I'm not speaking to Damon." she said.

"What's up with Bonnie? I really don't want to know what's wrong with you and Damon." he said wincing.

"Damon turned Bonnie's mom to protect me. Bonnie's sick of losing people to Damon. I took Bonnie's side last night and slapped Damon before telling him I didn't want to see or hear from him. Bonnie told me I was dead to her." she summarized.

"That sucks. Sorry I cant be more helpful. I need to figure this murder thing out." he told her running a hand through his sandy coloured hair.

"I wish I could help you too. But I need to deal with this." she said. When the doorbell sounded Elena leaped up hoping it was either Damon or Bonnie on the other side. She hoped Bonnie would forgive and Damon would fight. She was disappointed when she seen Stefan standing on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I actually came to see how Alaric's doing with the accusations, and to see if you've seen my brother. He's been helping me, and I haven't seen him around." he said.

"I haven't seen him since I left the house last night. What do you mean he's helping you?" she asked.

"He's helping he accept my nature as a vampire. No more bunnies and squirrels. I need to start feeding properly and not letting it control me. He's helping me get there. I'm a little antsy without him near." he admitted.

"Same here. I'm always antsy when he's not around." she muttered stepping aside so he could come in.

"So you two are fighting?" he asked without a trace of hopefulness in his voice.

"We are fighting, but we're not breaking up. I love him Stefan. And that isn't going to change." she said.

"You just want him to change." he stated matter of fact.

"I do not. I love him just the way he is." she snapped.

"Sure you do. If you did, whatever it is that he did, you wouldn't be this pissed about it." he said.

"He killed my best friends mom, Stefan. And now I am dead to her. I have every right to be pissed." she told him.

"Maybe you do. But odds are he did it for you. But I'm not here for you. I'm here for Alaric." he said brushing past her. She raised her eyebrows as he walked past. She wondered what had changed since last night when he walked out of the boarding house. Last night he had been so eager for her and Damon to break up so he could fight for her, but now he didn't seem to want her anymore.

"Stefan wait a second?" she asked.

"What?" he asked.

"What changed? Last night me and Damon fighting seemed to make you happy. But now, you don't seem to care. It doesn't make you as happy." she said confused.

"My brother. He's helping me through the darkest time of my life in a way that Lexi never did. If he can fix me, I can make sure he's happy. And give him the one thing that makes him happier than anything else. You. That's all there is to it." he said turning his back and walking into the kitchen where Alaric was no doubt listening to their entire conversation. Elena shook her head and walked back into the kitchen to finish drinking her coffee. When she was finished she turned to Alaric who looked concerned at whatever Stefan was saying to him.

"I'm going to see Bonnie again. Maybe she will be more open this time." Elena said getting up and walking out the front door with car keys in hand.

Yawning widely Caroline left Bonnie's house and almost walked into Klaus on the way down the stairs.  
>"Whoa, what are you doing here?" she asked when she braced her hands on his chest.<p>

"I came to find you. I heard you might be here." he said steadying her.

"I spent the night wide awake with Bonnie. She's dealing with the aftermath of Damon turning Abby." she said.

"There sounds like there might be more to the story than just that. He must have done it for Elena." he told her.

"I don't know. All I know, is I'm dead tired and my other best friends aren't friends anymore." she sighed running a hand through her blonde curls.

"Well let me drive you home." he said leading her to her car.

"That would actually be nice. I need to see Elena at some point. I need to get the rest of the story." she said.

"Why not get it from Damon? He was the one who pulled the dastardly act, maybe he should tell you." Klaus reasoned.

"That's not a bad idea. Can you take me to the boarding house first?" she asked.

"Sure?" he answered as he turned towards the boarding house. When the two of them walked in Damon was nursing a glass of hard liquor.

"Oh great, did you bring your big bad boyfriend here to kill me for hurting both Elena and Bonnie in the same day?" he asked.

"Actually no. But that is an option." she answered shortly.

"Geez, what's got you so pissy?" he asked.

"I'm tired. I spent the entire night awake with Bonnie who was intending to come over here to end you once and for all. I couldn't let her leave the house therefore I stayed awake." she explained.

"Ah she wants to kill me. That's nothing new." he said shrugging his shoulders.

"I need to know what happened? All I got out of Elena is what you told her. I need the whole story to see if you really are to blame." she said.

"Fine, take a seat. This will be a tough pill to swallow for Klaus here. Apparently vampires in nature of mommy issues." he said.

"What are you saying about my mother?" he demanded sitting down on a couch.

"Well lets see here. I come home yesterday afternoon and Abby is sitting on a chair in my living room. He demand to know why she's here and she proceeds to tell me to dump Elena because I'm not good enough for her. Not like I don't already know that. I tell her to screw off more or less, and she threatens to kill me if I don't obey. She tells me that I'm the main cause of everything bad that has happened in Mystic Falls, granted some of them yes, like Bonnie's grams death. I tell her that she couldn't harness Bonnie's powers if she wasn't a witch anymore. She says she is a witch and then tells me how when Esther gets Elena's blood, and she teams up with the Bennett witches, she will kill all the abominations on Earth. Which is all of us. Vampires in general. So in order to protect Elena from having Esther come after her right now, I gave Abby my blood and killed her." he said finishing with a deep drink from his crystal tumbler.

"Well, that makes it sound better. I guess." Caroline said after hearing the entire story.

"It's good to know my mother wants to kill me. Fun fact." Klaus said staring straight ahead.

"Well, keep in mind this is strictly business. I don't like you and you don't like me. But it seems to me that mommy dearest is a problem to both of us. She wants to kill you, and she needs my girlfriends blood to do it. Maybe we can come up with a partnership of sorts." Damon said.

"You want us to work together?" he asked.

"It would make sense. I would tolerate you if it meant protecting Elena from her psycho mother." he said.

"Deal. I'll see if my brothers or sister want to join?" he asked.

"Oh no Rebekah. That will make this slightly more awkward than it needs to be. Besides she wants to kill Elena, and I'm pretty sure Elena wouldn't be adverse to stabbing another dagger into her back to keep her out of my bed." he said.

"Fine. No Rebekah." he agreed.

"Partners?" Damon asked holding out his hand. Klaus hesitated for a moment before shaking Damon's hand firmly.

"Partners." he agreed.

When Elena got to Bonnie's, she didn't see Caroline's car. Elena sighed at that good fortune and walked up the front sidewalk. She knocked on the door and only had to wait a moment before Bonnie answered.

"What do you want? I thought I said everything I needed to last night." she said crossing her arms.

"We need to talk. I was hoping you'd be more open this morning. Please Bon, give me a chance." she said pleadingly.

"Fine. Say whatever you need to." Bonnie said stepping aside to let Elena in.

"I just want you to know that I left Damon." she said wiping a tear that escaped from her eye.

"You what?" she asked.

"I left Damon. After I came here and you told me that you never wanted to see me again, I went to the boarding house and told him I didn't want to see him or hear from him." she said softly.

"Why did you do that?" she asked softening.

"Because boyfriends come and go. Best friends are forever." she sighed. Bonnie smiled softly at Elena before returning to the stoic expression on her face.

"How's your mom doing?" she asked.

"She's second guessing her plan to die. She's thinking she might complete the transition. I know she doesnt have much time to decide, but she still doesn't know." Bonnie replied.

"I never did ask Damon for the whole story." Elena sighed.

"My mom told me her side of it, if that will help fill in some of the holes. In Damon's defence I can kind of see where he's coming from." she sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked.

"My mom said she had promised Esther our help to rid the world of vampires. Esther needs your blood to do it, and she's still trying. I get the idea she's going to do whatever it takes to get it. I don't know. Damon was acting to protect you. I'm just sick of it being me that suffers when he does something like this." she said.

"He always does these things for me, and I always hate him for it. And I always go back. But for you this time, I wont." she promised.

"Elena, Damon is the best chance we have of keeping you alive. My mom has only been in my life for a few weeks, you've been there forever. I cant be mad at Damon for keeping you in my life. And you shouldn't be either." Bonnie decided. Elena knew how hard it was for Bonnie to say those words.

"I don't know Bonnie, he went too far this time." Elena said.

"Do you miss him? Have you really thought about anyone else today?" she asked.

"No. But that's no change. He's always in every thought I have. And yes I miss him." Elena said.

"Then change that. Go see him. He saved your life, I cant be as mad. I'm still hurt that I might lose my mom, and its going to take time before we're back. But don't lose him." she said.

"I don't think he cares. He didn't even come over last night to fight for it. He always has every other time something has happened between us." she said.

"Maybe you didn't give him a chance. Just go talk to him." Bonnie urged.

"This is different. You're urging me to go see Damon." Elena noted.

"I cant lose you too. If accepting Damon is the best way to keep you alive, then so be it. I don't have to like it though." she said stoically. Elena nodded and got up walking back to her car. Bonnie turned and walked back into the bedroom where her mom was slowly dying.

Elena was confused when she saw Caroline's car in the driveway of the boarding house, but walked in anyways. She heard the voices coming from the parlour and walked in there. She was surprised when she saw Damon and Klaus seemingly getting along as they plotted. Caroline's head snapped back and smiled when she saw Elena.

"I'm so happy to see you. Are you alright?" she asked her friend.

"I'm fine. What's all this?" she asked.

"Damon and Klaus are teaming up to get rid of Esther." she said.

"Oh." Elena said walking over to wear Damon was seated. "Can we talk?" she asked.

"Whatever happened to not wanting to hear from me or see me?" he asked

"I was angry last night. I talked to Bonnie and she told me not to burn this bridge with you. Can we please talk alone?" she asked pleadingly.

"Fine." he said getting up. "I'll be back." he told Klaus as he walked past towards the stairs.

"Actually we'll just leave, and catch up later on. I need to talk to Elijah." he said getting up.

"Okay." he said following Elena up the stairs. When they were in his bedroom she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Now tell me the truth. Why did you do it? I already got Bonnie's theory on why you did it. Now I want yours." she said.

"I did it for you. Plain and simple. Everything I do is for you, no matter how twisted and stupid it is." he said.

"That's what Bonnie said too." she said smiling slightly.

"Look this is how it is. If you want me to change who I am for you, and be a tamer version of myself. I cant do that. I wont do that. Nothing is worth that Elena." he warned her.

"I don't want you to change. I love you Damon." she assured him.

"Then stop trying to change me. I wont do it. I will continue doing whatever I can to keep you safe, no matter who is hurts. That is the only reason you're even alive right now." he told her.

"I'm not worth all that trouble Damon. That's what hurts the most about all of this." she stated softly.

"You think you're not worth the trouble? Elena for once in over a century my life is worth living. I will not change that and I will not lose you. Without you, I am nothing and I have nothing. I'd revert back to my old attitude and way of thinking and there would be no one that could save me." he told her.

"So you're saying that as you keep saving me, I keep saving you?" she asked.

"Yes. You've saved me more times than I've saved you." he assured her kneeling in front of her and taking her face in his hands.


	12. Chapter 12

I'm not too sure how I feel about parts of this chapter, but I think generally I like most of it. There will be more of Alaric the murderer in the next one, and Esther's imprisonment. Let me know what you think of this story. I really appreciate the reviews that you all have left.

PS I own nothing but my ideas

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><p>"Why are we even coming here? We both know Rebekah is still digging around for something, Esther is on the loose looking for me. There are so many much more important things we could be doing right now." Elena said as they walked hand in hand onto Wickery Bridge. The bridge still scared her, so much bad stuff had happened to her here, between her parents driving off the bridge and Stefan threatening to drive her off the bridge.<p>

"I'm doing my job, I am part of the council so I have to be here." he said

"But shouldn't you be plotting with Klaus or something?" she hissed.

"Just because we're partners now Elena, doesn't mean that we have to spend every waking hour together. I quite like my Klaus free time." he noted as he looked around the group of people assembled for the Wickery Bridge restoration project.

"Fine. What are you looking for?" she asked.

"Nothing." he said.

"Okay." she said deciding not to push him. She laced her fingers through his and laid her head on his shoulder, he reached down and kissed the top of her head. They weren't perfect yet, but they were getting there. It was just going to take some time.

"Well well. Hello there stranger." a sultry voice stated.

"Sage, I thought that was you." Damon said grinning at the woman standing in front of him. Elena clutched Damon's hand tighter to show this mysterious woman that he was hers.

"It is me. It seems that you are still living your lessons well." she stated glancing at Elena. Damon shifted her slightly behind his back in a protective stance.

"Why are you here Sage?" he asked getting down to business.

"Someone told me that Finn was free, I'm looking for him." she said.

"He's around. He and his psycho mother want Elena's blood." he said his eyes narrowing.

"Well where is he? We need to be together." she said smiling.

"He doesn't love you Sage. If he did he wouldn't be off gallivanting with his mommy. He's be trying to find you." Damon said.

"Kind of like you did for so many years with Katherine?" she asked aiming for cruelty.

"I'm willing to admit that. I ran after Katherine like a love sick puppy. But I cured myself of that unfortunate affliction." Damon said proudly.

"No I saved you from that." she corrected.

"No you covered it up. It was still there, and it stayed there until I realized what a lying manipulative bitch she was, and I met Elena." he said.

"Ah I was wondering when you'd introduce me to the human." she said smiling a smile that was too cold to be reassuring.

"Elena, Sage. Sage- Elena." he said introducing the two women. Damon kept Elena behind him not allowing Sage anywhere near her.

"We should hang out Damon. The three of us could have so much fun. Two's company, but three is a party" she said her eyes glinting.

"I'm going to have to pass. But Elena and I have got to go. Have fun searching for Finn." he said taking Elena's hand and pulling her away from the crowd.

"Damon who was she?" she asked when they were safely in the car.

"Let's just say she was an old friend of mine." he stated.

"When you say friend, what exactly does that entail?" Elena asked curiously, with an overriding jealousy.

"She was my Lexi of sorts I guess. But instead of curing me of being a ripper like Stefan, she taught me to be who I was when I first came here." he said.

"Ah. I see." Elena said.

"Yeah. We have to get to the house Klaus apparently has a plan." he said checking a text message on his phone. Elena nodded and the two sped towards the boarding house. When they walked in the front door Klaus was resting leisurely on an overstuffed chair drinking a glass of bourbon.

"So tell me about this plan or yours?" he stated crossing his arms.

"We throw another ball. By the way Elijah is in. He will help us. Kol obeys Rebekah and she is on her own obscure mission. Finn is glued to mothers side. It's just us." he stated.

"And how exactly throwing a ball the answer?" Damon asked not entirely sure of what relevance a ball could possibly have.

"Easy. Elena is going to throw it." Klaus said smirking.

"What are you talking about? How is Elena throwing a ball going to help us?" Damon asked frustrated.

"You can be really dense sometimes Damon. My mother is after Elena's blood. I know she will show up even if only to get her hands on our beautiful doppelganger." he said grinning.

"That's actually not a terrible plan." he agreed.

"Now we should get this show on the road and have this party for sooner rather than later." Klaus decided.

"Fine. Where?" Elena asked.

"At my place." he decided.

"Okay, " Damon said agreeing to his plan. Although this time he was not letting Elena out of his site at this particular ball. He didn't need the aftermath of the last ball again.

"The ball will be tomorrow night." Klaus decided.

"Can we make a ball for that soon?" Elena asked curiously.

"Yes the only guests that matter are my mother and Finn." he said.

"Alright. I better go find a dress. And Damon, this time you aren't leaving my side. It'll save us a fight or two." she said.

"My sentiments exactly. You go find a dress and Klaus and I will send out invites in your name." he said.

"Sounds good." she said reaching up and kissing him before leaving the house. At their mutual vampire speeds and powers of compulsion they had invites delivered to every house in under an hour.

"Mother, there is an invitation here." Finn said upon opening their front door to find a small manila envelope on the front step.

"What does it say?" Esther demanded.

"Elena Gilbert invites us to a ball at this address. It's tomorrow night." he said.

"Ah Elena Gilbert invites us. This may be our chance." Esther said pensively.

"What if it is a trap mother?" he asked.

"This human girl has no idea of my plan for her. She has no idea I am still after her blood. She has no reason to set up a plot with someone. Besides this is a town filled with parties almost every other weekend, this is the norm." she decided.

"So we just contact your Bennett witches and then get the show on the road tonight? Tonight all vampires will be dead?" he asked.

"No. There seems to be an issue. Abby Bennett no longer is a witch it seems. The only powers I can channel is Bonnie. Something has happened. I need to get to the bottom of that. Tomorrow night is just about getting the blood of the doppelganger." she decided.

"Is Abby Bennett dead?" Finn asked.

"I don't know. All I know is I cant channel the ancient witches unless I have the bloodline. There is no bloodline without Abby." Esther said pondering her predicament.

Elena went to pick up Caroline to come dress shopping with her.

"So why are we having a ball. I'm confused?" she asked.

"We need to lure Esther out so she can be killed permanently. We cant let her have my blood, if she gets it then everyone I love could be killed." she decided.

"Right. Damon, me." she said.

"I cant let that happen. So now we have to go find a gown for the ball. Are you going with Klaus?" she asked.

"I am. I'm kind of excited." she said smiling.

"I cant believe you and Klaus are together. It's baffling." Elena said laughing.

"About as baffling as you and Damon." Caroline argued.

"Fine." she said as they pulled up in front of the dress store. The girls separated as they looked for the ideal dresses.

"Oh my God Lena, check this out. It is so you." Caroline called over to a beautiful sapphire blue one shouldered gown. It was tight at the top but flared into a ball gown skirt at the bottom. The colour was rich and perfect.

"I'll try it on." she decided, the dress really was perfect. And she had the perfect jewelry to go with it. Caroline continued perusing the shelf until she came across a emerald green strapless one that she thought she'd try. Slipping into the change room next to Elena's, she pulled the emerald green dress on and stepped out. Elena was admiring the way her dress fit and looked when she stepped out of the change room.

"That is the perfect dress!" both girls said simultaneously when they seen the others gown.

"We found our dresses." Elena said smiling. The girls went and paid for their gowns before texting their boyfriends telling them of their colour.

"Mom, we should go to this ball. I don't know what's going on?" Bonnie told her mom who was standing out in the garden after finally feeding.

"Are you sure you want me there?" Abby asked.

"Yes, I'm not ready to let you out of my sight. Besides there will be people there that can stop you from lashing out." Bonnie assured her mom.

"I just don't trust myself." she said.

"Caroline brought over lots of blood bags. You can feed before we go and you can keep a few bags in your bag in case you get thirsty while we're there." she said.

"Alright sweetheart. I'll come with you." Abby decided resigned.

The next evening Elena stood up in her room putting her dress on and admiring it in the mirror. This was the perfect dress for the evening and she loved it. She was sure Damon was going to love it too. When she walked downstairs Alaric and Meredith were standing by ready for the ball as well.

"Are you sure you should be coming Ric? You're not healthy." Elena said.

"I am going. I have to protect you." he said adamantly.

"Who's going to protect the town if you go off the rails and kill someone?" she asked.

"I'll keep an eye on his Elena. You just have fun." Meredith assured her.

"Are you sure you can handle it. We can always lock him up in Damon's basement." she said.

"I am fine tonight Elena. I'm not wearing my ring. Nothing will happen." he assured her.

"Fine. I'll meet you guys there." she said as they walked out of the house. She sent a quick text message to Damon telling him to help her keep an eye on Alaric tonight. He was going to the ball. She left a few minutes later and got into her car. She got there at the same time as Caroline and the girls walked up the stairs together.

"Bonnie and Abby are here." Caroline noted.

"I'm so happy Abby decided to turn." Elena stated relieved. At least now she didn't have that guilt on her conscious.

"Are you staying by Damon's side all night?" Caroline asked.

"Yes. I don't need a repeat of the last ball." she decided.

"That's probably a good idea." she said as the doors opened and they walked in. In order to keep up appearances Damon and Klaus were standing on polar opposite sides of the room while they waited for their dates. Damon saw Sage walk in a few minutes prior and smirked at him. He glared at her while he waited for Elena. When he seen her walk in, his breath was sucked out of his chest although he didn't need it to breath. She was exquisite. She was even more beautiful tonight than she was the night of the Mikealson ball.

"You look amazing." he said kissing her cheek softly.

"Thank you. So do you. Any sign of Esther and Finn?" she asked.

"No, bur Sage is here. Oh goodie." he stated rolling his eyes.

"What about Rebekah and Kol?" she asked.

"They're here. Rebekah is off enquiring about old saw mills. I think I know what she is after." he said.

"What?" she asked.

"Another living white oak tree." he answered.

"Why does it matter, her mother is planning on killing her." she asked.

"Rebekah apparently does not know that or does not believe that. I don't really care which. Let's go dance." he said taking her hand. Klaus cornered Caroline and led her onto the dance floor near where Damon and Elena were dancing.

"Still no sign of mother." he said.

"She'll be here." Damon assured his partner. Just as he said that she walked in the doors with Finn beside her. Damon saw Sage's eyes light up when she seen him but he didn't even return her gaze. He was far to interested in whatever his mother was whispering to him. As Esther and Finn made their way over to Elena and Damon, they stopped dancing to greet their guest of honour so to speak.

"Thank you for inviting us Elena. It really is a pleasure." she said.

"The pleasure is all mine." she answered.

"Well would you mind terribly if we went off and talked alone for a moment. It really is very important." she said.

"Actually Elena is not leaving my side at all tonight." Damon interjected.

"Come along Mr Salvatore. Please be reasonable. I just need to speak to her for a moment. Just a moment.' she said trying to be soothing.

"And that isn't going to happen." Damon said calmly.

"Elena, wouldn't you like to make your own choice dear? Come visit with me for just a moment." she asked.

"I'm quite happy staying here by his side. You're not getting my blood Esther." she said firmly.

"Oh Elena dear. I just need a drop. Let me take just a drop. If you don't give it to me, I will take it by force." she threatened. When Damon wrapped his hands around Esther's throat, Finn jumped into action and knocked Damon out of the way. Elena rushed over to check on him as Klaus and Caroline inched through the crowd that had formed during the altercation.

"Mother what is this?" Klaus asked trying to keep his allegiances at secret.

"Stay out of this Niklaus." she said.

"Alright then." he said stepping away to go help Damon up. During the bustle of the moment Sage wormed her way through the crowd to Finn's side.

"I'm so happy to see you." she said throwing her arms around his neck.

"Sage. Now is not the time." he said stepping away from her embrace.

"But Finn. I waited for you." she said.

"But now is not the time. You can wait a little longer." he said. During Sage's unintentional momentary distraction of Esther Damon and Klaus had to kidnapped and rushed away from there. Esther woke up a few hours later in the dark and dingy basement of the boarding house with her son and Damon standing on the other side of the bolted iron door.

"What is this?" she asked wearily.

"This is your prison." Klaus said sweetly.


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter is a little jumpy. it was hard doing the Damon torture scene but still maintain that they were after Esther. So all you need to know is that they are after Esther, but they also want to rid the world of the originals in order to maintain Elena's safety. Instead of Rebekah being upset that he used her, she's upset that he wants to kill her.

PS I own nothing but my ideas.

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><p>"What the hell do you mean she's gone? I told you to stay down here and watch her while we were out." Damon shouted at his brother after coming home to find Esther all but disappeared.<p>

"I don't know. I left to get some blood, and when I came back she was gone." he explained.

"If you were that desperate for blood why couldn't you have taken it from the her?" he demanded.

"Did you want her dead?" Stefan retorted.

"It's not such a bad idea exactly. Esther is missing and it is your fault. Why in the hell did I even think to trust you with this. You are still untrustworthy and practically useless." he snarled.

"Damon calm down." Elena insisted having heard enough of his verbal tirade to his brother.

"He released Esther, Elena. You know Esther, the one that is trying to kill you for your blood?" he hissed as he shrugged out from underneath her hand and started pacing the floor at vampire speed.

"She's out there, I know that. But you've managed to keep me safe from her all along." he told him.

"That is not the point Elena. The point is that we weren't supposed to have to worry about her anymore. She was supposed

" to be a neutralized threat. We were only supposed to have to worry about the remaining evil originals. Rebekah. Kol. Finn and his lovely lady friend Sage." he said.

"It doesn't matter. We are more safe than you know. Klaus and Elijah are on our team." she told him as he continued to pace. That man was really good at multitasking, he could rant and rage while still maintaining full control over his body as he paced at vampire speed.

"I haven't seen Elijah yet, and Klaus is out trying to convince Bonnie to lift the spell linking all the originals together." Damon explained.

"Elijah is honourable. He will show. And Klaus is trying to help as strange as that sounds. We all have a common goal." she said trying to convince him. When he didn't stop, she shot a futile glance at Stefan who raised his hands in surrender, clearly hinting that she should as well.

"I don't like depending on those original vampires, I never know when they are going to screw us over." he stated.

"You have to trust them. They are trusting you." she insisted refusing to give up.

"Oh are they? Is that why I haven't seen Klaus since last night when we locked his dear mother up? And why Elijah is still not around?" he hissed.

"Fine, since you seem to be entirely happy being miserable and blaming everyone else for the bad luck of losing Esther, I am going home." she said grabbing her purse and the bag that her dress from last night was in before leaving the house.

"Good work brother. Top notch. It's your fault she's pissed at me again." Damon said continuing to pace, his anger had far from faded.

"It's not my fault that you're a dick." Stefan muttered before going upstairs.

"You're the one that lost Esther." he shouted after his brother. Remembering that he had other things to accomplish today he rushed down to the basement and grabbed the covered sign that he had hidden down there before rushing off to Alaric's apartment.

Alaric greeted him when he saw the sign in his hand.

"Come on in. Let's get to work." he said as he ushered Damon inside. The sound of power tools could be heard from the loft. When they were finished and they 12 white oak stakes in hand, Damon and Alaric left the loft and drove towards the boarding house. The blue Camaro coursed through the streets of Mystic Falls until Damon suddenly slammed on his brakes.

"Whoa, what the hell Damon?" Alaric shouted.

"I wonder." Damon said staring straight ahead of him at a glowering Rebekah.

"What the hell is she doing?" Alaric asked.

"I don't know, I'll be right back." he said. Alaric shook his head and followed Damon out of the car.

"I know vamps cant get hurt by a car accident, but do you have a death wish Rebekah?" Damon demanded.

"I don't. But you do. I know what you are planning. Nik is not good at keeping secrets." she said with her hands on her hips.

"Oh don't worry Rebekah, I wasn't planning on killing you yet. You still have time." he said sweetly.

"Damon, maybe we should just get in the car." Alaric stated.

"Oh no. You don't." she said knocking Alaric down to the ground and overpowering Damon.

"Rebekah, what are you doing?" he asked as she broke his neck and sped him away from the scene. Alaric scrambled to his feet and got in behind the wheel of Damon's Camaro. He sent a silent apology to his friend before putting the car into gear and speeding away. He knew Damon wouldn't approve of him being behind the wheel of his precious car.

When Damon came to he was chained to the ceiling of Klaus's mansion.

"This isn't smart, tying me up in Klaus's mansion." he said.

"Nik is away at the moment, dealing with an unwilling witch. He will never know what is happening to his partner in crime." she said smirking.

"Isn't that lucky for you.." he said as he fought to release himself from the bear traps she had his wrists encased in.

"Now tell me exactly what your plan is." she demanded as she ran a knife down his chest creating a long bloody line.

"Go to hell." he hissed as the knife cut into his flesh.

"Now that's not nice Damon. But alas I cannot force you to tell me. I must torture you some more." she decided stabbing the knife into his stomach while he howled in pain.

"Now are you ready to tell me?" she asked.

"Screw you." he hissed as his body slowly healed itself.

"I already know what mother is planning, and it doesn't matter. Nik is making sure the binding spell is gone, so I could be safe. I just want to know your plan." she insisted as she gouged another wound into his bare abdomen.

"No." he said gruffly.

"I could always compel you, I guess. I mean after all the vervain has bled from your body." she mused. He didn't answer, he couldn't. He closed his eyes as she continued to cut and gouge at his body with an almost sickening pleasure.

Alaric rushed into the boarding house armed with the bag of white oak daggers.

"Where's Damon?" Stefan asked from his spot on the couch.

"Rebekah has him." Alaric answered breathing heavily.

"Are those the stakes?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah. But we have to save Damon." Alaric said.

"No the plan is for Klaus to find Bonnie and make her break the spell, while we find either Finn or Kol, or Rebekah and kill them. Damon will be fine. He has always excelled at making people give him what they want. Especially women." Stefan stated.

"She is trying to kill him. She found out that he is trying to kill her, and the other brothers Stefan." Alaric said running a hand through his hair.

"Who is trying to kill who?"Elena asked walking into the house keys in hand and a frown on her pretty face.

"Rebekah has Damon." Stefan said as Alaric looked at her uncertainly.

"What? Why? How did she catch him?"she asked fear evident on her face.

"We went and made stakes so we could kill the originals. Somehow Rebekah found out about the plan and how we were teamed up with Klaus and Elijah to kill Esther and the rest of the originals. I don't really understand it. But in the end she broke his neck and hauled him away. I don't know where and I would surmise that she is torturing him for information. She was always seemed like a vindictive bitch." Alaric explained.

"We have to save him! We have to go, now." she exclaimed as she picked up her keys.

"We cant. This is perfect Elena, with one of them compromised for the moment, it will be easier to get to Finn. I know he's here in Mystic Falls now." Stefan said.

"But Damon. We have to save Damon. He's your brother." she shrieked.

"I know that Elena. But Damon and I have always agreed on one thing. Your safety is number one. And if we kill an original, especially Finn, since he is his mommy's favourite. Esther will come back and we can kill her. Your safety is our number one priority." Stefan reasoned handing her a white oak stake.

"But Damon's safety is my number one priority. I love him Stefan." she said.

"Stefan's right Elena. We need to keep you safe. Damon will be fine. He always is. In fact maybe he's already free." Alaric said trying to make Elena calmer.

"But what if he's not?" she asked.

"He will be. Why don't you stay her while Stefan and I go find Finn?" Alaric offered, seeing that she was in no state to fight a war with an original. She nodded only when an idea popped in her head.

"That's a good idea." she decided.

"Okay, we'll see you in a little while. Stay here." he said before following Stefan out of the house.

"Are you ready to talk yet?" Rebekah asked once she walked back into the room to find a bloody and battered Damon.

"Fuck you." he said. He was losing a lot of blood and having no time to heal. She had tortured him physically, she had tortured him in his head by showing him images he fought so hard to keep out of his head. She showed him images of a Stefan and Elena reunion, he showed images of Elena being tortured and killed. Those pictures of him losing Elena in a variety of different ways were far more painful that any of the physical torture she was putting him through.

"Well since you are not willing to help me yet, I will leave you with this parting gift." she said invading his thoughts once again and making him stare into the guys of another dying Elena. He closed his eyes even though he knew that would not help. He could still see the image as clear as day. He could hear her heels clapping on the floor as she left him with his agony and not healing body. He slowly make back to and his eyes widened when he seen Elena rushing into the room with a worried expression on her face.

"Oh my God Damon." she said as she started undoing his binds.

"Well well what do we have here?" Rebekah asked as she walked back into the room and seen Elena undoing him.

"Please, just let him go." she begged.

"Tell me what his plan is, and then he can go. He is so stubborn, this could have been over hours ago." she said.

"Elena, no." he said.

"What plan?" she asked not willing to go against her boyfriends wishes. If he went through all of this to keep it from her, then it must be important that she didn't know.

"Fine then." she said as she stabbed a knife all the way to the hilt into his stomach. He screamed and his eyes closed again. Pulling the knife from his stomach she carved into his chest and stomach.

"Stop. Please stop." Elena begged.

"Why should I?' she asked stopping for a moment but leaving the knife wedged in his stomach while he panted harshly.

"I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you. Please just release him. I'll ensure your safety if you just leave him alone." Elena begged.

"Why should I believe you? You've never done anything to me but stab me in the back. Literally." she said.

"I'll tell you the plan, please just release him." she begged.

" Tell me the plan then I will consider it." she said placing her hands on her hips after she pulled the knife from his body. Damon was so near unconsciousness that he probably didn't even know what she was doing.

"Esther escaped and in order to protect me, she has to die. Damon and Alaric made white oak stakes out of an old Wickery Bridge sigh to kill you all with." she said while she kept stealing glances at Damon.

"Where are these stakes?" Rebekah demanded.

"I have one right here. You can take it. I can get you the rest of them." she promised.

"I have one question though, why do my brothers and I have to die if you're only needing my mother dead?" she asked.

"Because you have been willingly trying to kill me since you woke up. Damon will do anything to protect me and vice versa." she told the ancient vampire.

"Give me that stake and get me the rest of them. I do not care what you do to my mother but you will not harm me and my brothers. Mother wants us dead to." she said.

"I can do that." she nodded solemnly.

"Good." Rebekah said walking out of the room with the stake in her hand. Once she was gone Elena hurriedly released Damon from his binds and he slumped against her. She clutched to him as she walked him away from the blood covered canvas towards a clean spot on the floor.

"You need to feed." she wept as she tried to wipe some of the blood away from his body.

"Elena, what did you do?" he asked.

"I saved your ass, because I love you. Don't ever do something like that to me again." she ordered him as she offered the side of her neck to him.

"No. I could lose control." he muttered weakly as he turned his head away.

"And I could lose you. Please just do it." she begged him. He sighed before biting into the pliant flesh of her neck. He could feel his wounds heal and his strength return as he eagerly drank in her life source. When he felt her growing weaker he stopped and pulled away wiping his mouth on his arm.

"We have to get the stakes to Rebekah." Elena said.

"No." he said firmly.

"I promised them to her to free you." she said.

"No." he said firmly as he stood up.

"I just saved your life Damon, please let me do this my way." she begged with her arms wrapped securely around his waist as if she thought he would disappear if she let go. He solemnly nodded at her.

"Good. Let's get you home." she said.

"I am so sick of people, vampires, witches and such endangering your life. I just want it all over." he said as they walked out to her car.

"Me too. But at least if we get the most notable danger; Esther; out of the way then we can go back to our regularly scheduled original vampire issue." she said.

"So you want to just let the vampires roam free with our final weapon that can kill them, while we hunt down their psychopathic mother?" he clarified.

"Yes. Let's just worry about one danger at a time." she begged.

"Fine. Number one Esther. Number 2 everything else." he said. When they pulled back in front of the boarding house she helped him inside. He still wasn't fully healed some of the wounds were still there and still bleeding. The small amount of blood she was able to give him back at Klaus's mansion wasn't near enough. She seen Damon's Camaro outside and knew that Stefan and Ric were back.

"Where the hell were you Elena? How could you just leave like that?" Ric shouted when she and Damon walked inside.

"Not now okay. Please. We need to give the stakes to Rebekah." she said as she helped Damon over to the couch and rushed to get him a blood bag from the fridge downstairs.

"What the hell did you do Elena?" Stefan demanded.

"We are dealing with only one problem right now. Esther. The other entities that want to kill me can wait." she decided.

"That's not your decision to make." Stefan shrieked.

"Yes it is. It's her life, she wants to do it this way. Then that's how it will be done. We will find another way to rid the world of the original vampires." Damon interjected.

"How are you doing brother?" Stefan asked.

"Like you care Stefan?" Elena stated coldly.

"I care Elena. But the plan was more important in that moment." Stefan defended his actions.

"I don't care Stefan. I saved him." she said smiling as he gulped down a bag of blood.

"More." he stated as the wounds on his upper body started going away. She nodded and rushed downstairs grabbing a couple more bags of blood.

"What the hell happened to you? And why is my house covered in blood?" Klaus demanded walking into the house with Bonnie and Caroline in tow.

"Your psycho sister gouged and stabbed me all afternoon." he stated as Elena came back and sat down beside him watching him with a still worried expression on her face.

"I see. The spell is undone and Elijah is out searching for mother." he said.

"Well that is good news." Damon said.

"It shouldn't be long now before we go back to our normal hatred for each other." Klaus said before he sat down on the couch to await word from Elijah.


	14. Chapter 14

"I just want to check on Jeremy." Elena argued.

"We can't leave Mystic Falls now Elena. We are this close to having Esther and I want to be here when the bitch is locked up and murdered again." he argued.

"But Jeremy." she insisted.

"Elena, Jeremy is safe. Right now he is not as important as other things. Alaric is still vacillating between sanity and insanity. We need to make sure his alter ego doesn't make a reappearance. That is most important right now." he said.

"Bonnie and Caroline and everyone else can watch that. I want to go see Jeremy. I'm going whether you come or not." she said crossing her arms across her chest.

"Damn it. Fine, but if Alaric relapses its on you." he said not happy about this decision.

"He wont. I have faith in Bonnie and her herbs that are keeping Alaric sane." she told him.

"Let's get this over with." he said grabbing his keys from his pocket and walking out of the house. She sighed and shook her head. He was being so difficult, and he didn't seem to understand why she needed to see for herself that her brother was alright. He was the only family she had left.

They spent the entire flight to Denver in silence and as he compelled his way to a car she didn't speak to him. The entire way to where Jeremy was supposed to be they never spoke a word.

"Why are you mad at me?" she demanded.

"Maybe because there was a plan in motion and it required you and me in Mystic Falls. But no, we are here in Denver because you need to see your brother." he snarled.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"Just never mind. You have this amazing ability to ruin plans. Elijah, Klaus and myself were supposed to trap and kill Esther, but no I'm here with you." he said.

"Jeremy is the only family I have left. It's only natural I want to check on him." she said.

"Well use the phone. Hell he's safer here than he would be in Mystic Falls." he said as they walked towards him batting in one of the batting cages.

"He's my brother Damon." she said shortly as she walked over to him.

"Elena, what are you doing here?" he asked hugging his sister.

"I came to see you. How are you doing?" she asked hugging him back tightly.

"I'm great. You guys should meet my new friend. His name is Kol." Jeremy said happily just as Kol walked over.

"Jer he's not a friend." Elena said.

"Sure he is." Jeremy stated.

"No Jer. That is one of Klaus's brothers. He's evil." Elena said softly.

"No he's not. You've been in Mystic Falls too long Lena." Jeremy said.

"No she's right. I was just waiting for the opportune moment to kill you. Now seems like a good time." Kol said.

"Why? I thought you were my friend." he stated feeling betrayed.

"Well I want to prove that the originals are still in control even if my dear brother has went over to the dark side. Rebekah and I still want you all dead." he explained. Kol reached into the bin of baseball bats and chose one before beating Damon down with it. Damon came back and stabbed the bat into Kol's stomach before ushering Elena and Jeremy away from the batting cages.

"Where are we going?" Jeremy demanded as Damon pulled both him and Elena away from the batting cages.

"Away from here." he said pushing them both to the rented car. Elena got into the passenger seat while Jeremy climbed into the backseat. Everyone was silent in the car and for a moment Jeremy wondered what was going on with Damon and Elena. There was clearly something going on but he wasn't sure what it was. He pulled up in front of a motel and stopped the car.

"This is where we're staying?" Jeremy asked looking at the motel.

"Kol wont find us here." he said walking up the stairs.  
>"I'm just surprised about Kol. I thought he was my friend." Jeremy said upset.<p>

"Given your track record with friends I would have been more careful. Have you met you?" Damon asked as they walked up the stairs to the rooms.

"Damon would you be nice to my brother for thirty seconds?" Elena asked annoyed.

"Do you want your thirty seconds now or later?" he asked sarcastically.

"God." she said rolling her eyes. He let them into the room and shut it behind them. Elena went and sat on the bed while Jeremy sat on the other bed. Damon sat down on the chair across from the beds.

"So what are we going to do now? We have a psychotic original vampire after us, who is doing whatever his psychotic sister wants him to. We wouldn't be in this mess right now if it weren't for Elena needing to see you." Damon stated.

"But then my brother would still be in danger." Elena retorted.

"I have to call Klaus, see how the Esther hunting is going." he said pulling out his cell phone and dialling the newly familiar number.

"Where the hell are you?" Klaus asked without any preamble at all.

"In Denver, dealing with some more of Elena's family issues." he answered calmly.

"What about your survival issues?" Klaus demanded.

"I have to go. We'll be home tomorrow sometime." he said hanging up on the belligerent original. "I'm going to freshen up. You two should get some rest." he said leaving the room to go get his bag from the trunk of the car.

"What's up with you and Damon?" Jeremy asked when Damon was gone.

"It's complicated." she said.

"What's with you and Stefan?" he asked knowing all the complications usually surrounded her relationship with Stefan.

"Nothing. Stefan and I are over." she said.

"And you and Damon?" he asked.

"Well we're together, but we haven't spoke all day. We had a fight." she answered.

"What did you fight about?" he asked.

"Coming here. He wanted to stay home and take care of the threat. I wanted to come here to see you." she said.

"Oh." he said lapsing into silence. Damon came back in a few minutes later and went straight into the bathroom before emerging a couple minutes later. He walked around to the other side of the bed Elena was in laying down on top of the covers. The room was bathed in an awkward silence, Jeremy still wrapping his head around Elena and Damon together, Elena and Damon still mad at each other. The tension between the couple was tangible and after a few minutes of lying in that bed without touching him she got up and rushed out of the room. Jeremy sat up seeing his sister rush out of the room.

"Elena?" he called.

"I'll get her." Damon said following her out of the room. Jeremy shrugged his shoulders resigned to letting the vampire get her. At least if they worked out their issues maybe they would get some sleep tonight.

"I want to be alone Damon." she insisted.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You know this trip could kill us?" he demanded standing a few steps away from her.

"If we didn't come here, Kol would have eventually killed Jeremy. I could have lost him too. You do realize that if I lose Jeremy I will have lost everyone that I have ever loved? I cant do that." she said.

"Your life with forever be infinitely more important than Jeremy's. I will always choose you." he told her.

"I know, but I will always choose Jeremy." she told him softly.

"I know that." he answered.

"But yet you disregard me and pout all day because we are here." she said.

"Elena, I have expended a great deal of personal trouble to keep you alive. And this is the best chance we've had of ridding the world of our greatest enemy, now we may have lost the chance. Elijah has Esther but we don't know how long he'll be able to keep her before she escapes again. We're starting back at square one." he said.

"We'll make it work Damon. We always make it work." she told him.

"Esther will come after you again, and I cant take that. I love you Elena, and your pathological disregard for your own safety pisses me off." he confessed.

"I know and I'm sorry. But it was Jeremy. I cant risk losing him too." she said.

"I wouldn't risk him either. Just because of what he means to you. But you're not alone. You have me, Alaric, Stefan, Caroline, Bonnie and so many other people who love you. I'm sorry for today." he told her.

"Me too. I hate being mad at you especially now. It seems like such a waste considering I never know how much time we have left." she said leaning her head on his chest.

"Me too. So how about we kiss and make up?|" he asked his familiar smirk appearing on his face.

"We can kiss but the makeup will have to wait until we're alone. Jeremy's in that room." she said reaching up to kiss him passionately.

"Damn Jeremy Gilbert." he said before kissing her again.


	15. Chapter 15

The couple continued to kiss outside the room until they heard a throat clear behind them.

"Well, this is awkward." Jeremy said standing awkwardly off to the side.

"Sorry." Elena said pulling away from Damon but still keeping her arm firmly around him. She didn't need him thinking she was ashamed of their relationship and not willing to tell Jeremy about it, in reality that was the furthest from the truth. For his part he kept his arm around her shoulder, holding her dangerously close to him.

"I'm glad you worked things out, but I didn't need to see that." he said looking disgusted.

"I would apologize, but we both know it would be a lie." Damon said shrugging his shoulders which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Elena.

"Ow." he groaned with a smirk on his face.

"But anyways, what do we do now?" Jeremy asked, clearly referring to the fact that they had a homicidal original vampire on their hands.

"We head back to Mystic Falls and see if we can salvage any of our plan." Damon stated.

"Okay." Elena said agreeing.

"Now you agree to go back to Mystic Falls?" he asked staring at her.

"We have Jeremy, that's all that mattered to me. We can go home now." she said softly. Damon nodded and the three walked back into the hotel room to gather their things.

"Are you ready to go back to Mystic Falls?" Elena asked her brother.

"As ready as I'll ever be I suppose." he answered.

"Let's go. I want to get an early start." he said holding the door open for them. Jeremy climbed into the backseat of the rented car as Elena slid in beside him. They drove to the airport in comfortable silence and Damon compelled Jeremy a seat on the plane next to them.

"I'm really sorry Damon for ruining the plan." Elena whispered to him while she sat in between him and Jeremy on the plane.

"It's okay. We'll make it work. Like you said, we always do." he said caressing the back of her hand which he held on her lap. She smiled at him and leaned over to kiss him softly.

"I love you. Thank you for coming with me. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here." she said laying her head on his shoulder.

"No matter how mad I was at you, I would never have made you come here by yourself. I have no faith in the rest of humanity or lack thereof. I don't trust anyone with you." he told her as the plan continued its journey back towards Mystic Falls. Jeremy studiously ignored there conversation from beside them.

"I know you would do anything for me and I know I don't make it easy." she sighed.

"You don't. But you wouldn't be the woman I love if you didn't completely disregard me from time to time." he told her with a small smile on his face.

"You wouldn't be the man I love if you didn't do absolutely anything in your power to keep me safe. No matter how annoying it can be at times." she said laying her head on his shoulder and turning her hand in his to lace her fingers with his.

"Okay, you two are sickening. What happened to the bad ass vampire who killed me?" Jeremy said disgusted from beside them.

"The girl beside him tamed him somewhat. That guy is still in here, he's just easier to control than before." he said.

"So you are still capable of killing?" Jeremy teased.

"Better than anyone else. Except now instead of killing for fun because Elena really frowns upon that, I kill to protect her. I still get the same high." he noted and Elena jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "What?" he asked.

"Can we not talk about the V word or killing while on a public plane?" she whispered.

"Fine. You know I am capable of compulsion right. The people within hearing range needn't even remember." he said.

"I don't care. Can we spend the next couple hours normally?" she asked.

"Fine. Can I interest you in joining the mile high club?" he asked.

"Ew." Jeremy said.

"No." Elena answered glaring at him.

"Fine. You ruin all my fun." he said pouting. She leaned in and kissed his pouty bottom lip. The kiss grew in passion until Jeremy cleared his throat.

"Public plane."he reminded them.

"I hate you." Damon said glaring at the annoying teenager. Elena smiled and leaned her head on his arm and closing her eyes. After the day they had, he didn't blame her for needing to sleep. Damon stayed awake and wondered just what kind of horrible drama would commence when he got home. He didn't have any faith that things would be good when he got home. They never were.

When the plane landed he picked up his car and they began driving back to the Gilbert House. Damon's phone started ringing about halfway there.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Um, you may not want to return home right now. There has been a wee little bit of a development since you left this morning." Klaus said.

"What the hell happened Klaus? And where are you?" he asked.

"I'm at your house, and let's just say that Esther got to Alaric and now we have a super vampire hunter on our hands." he said.

"What?" Damon roared. He flipped the car around and drove like a bat out of hell towards the boarding house.

"I'm assuming by the sound of the tires squealing that you'll be back soon. I'll talk to you when you get here." he said.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"Well let's just say I'm blaming you again." he said angrily as he sped up to the boarding house and shut off the car.

"Damon what happened?" she asked as her and Jeremy followed Damon into the house.

"Esther came into contact with Alaric and now he is a super vampire hunter, like Mikeal. Who wants all vampires dead. That all happened since we left this morning. When we left Alaric was struggling a bit with Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde syndrome, but now he is firmly the evil one." he said walking into the house. When he walked in Klaus was sitting on the couch drinking a glass of bourbon.

"Normally I would stake someone for drinking my bourbon, but not this time. Explain." he said.

"I did over the phone. What else can I tell you?" he asked taking another sip of the alcohol.

"Everything you know. How can he be killed?" he asked.

"Only with the white oak dagger that he now carries. The vampire hunter who really sucked at his job is now the worlds best vampire hunter. We're all in danger." Klaus said.

"Alaric? What's happened to Alaric?" Elena demanded. Jeremy stood behind Elena furthering Elena's plea for knowledge about what was happening to their last possible guardian.

"He is a super vampire hunter who wants to kill all of us. Including your beloved Damon." Klaus said explaining.

"But why?" she asked taken aback at what had conspired while they were gone.

"Because Esther needs a weapon. Alaric was the perfect weapon. Just so you know this could have all been stopped if you had just left your brother alone, or if you hadn't been selfish enough to take Damon with you. We could have had Esther and she could have never gone after Alaric." Klaus said.

"It's not my fault." she said reflexively. No one said anything in her defence.

"What you think this is my fault?" she asked.

"The way I see it Damon wouldn't have went to Denver if it weren't for you. If he was here to do his part of the plan Esther would be dead right now. It was only me and Elijah versus Kol, Rebekah and mother. It was Damon's duty to distract Rebekah and for Elijah to take care of Kol. I was supposed to take out Esther since I'm the one with no remorse. The one capable of killing one's parents. But since that didn't work, we're all in more danger than ever before." he said.

"You should have been able to take them both. You're a hybrid and one of the oldest vampires in the history of the world. Why couldn't you take him out. Maybe you didn't want to." she shouted.

"He tried Elena." Caroline stated, staying out of the conversation for the most part.

"We had to save Jeremy." Elena whispered.

"No Jeremy would have been fine if we hadn't shown up until tomorrow. Or the next day. Kol was going to be here anyways. He must have left Denver right after he fought him. Jeremy would have been fine." he said flashing out of the room. Knowing he went upstairs when she heard the door of his bedroom slam shut.

"I'll be back." she said walking up the stairs after him.

"So you think this is my fault too?" she demanded standing before him in his bedroom.

"I don't think. I know. You have this pathological need to ruin any plan we get with your need to protect people. Especially people that are fine. So yes now because of you we have this evil Alaric intent on killing us all. And I have to watch my own back just as much as I watch yours. So needless to say I'm pissed right now. Just go downstairs." he said turning away from her. She could tell that just behind the mask of anger he wore, he was panicked.

"I'm sorry. I know I ruin everything. I just felt such a panic for Jeremy I didn't think about anything else." she said. Hearing the tone of her voice he turned back towards her and pulled her into his embrace.

"It's late. Let's just go to bed." he said.

"What about Klaus and Caroline, and Jeremy?" she asked.

"Let them fend for themselves. I just want to take you to bed." he said not wanting to fight now. He knew that deep down that he couldn't hate her for wanting to protect her family. Jeremy was the only family she had left.

"I can handle that. But I want Jeremy to stay here for a while. I don't want him going back to the house if Alaric is as they say he is.

"He can stay until its safe." he promised her. She smiled and leaned in to kiss him. He kissed her back and backed her towards the bed.

"Well that was quick." Klaus said listening into the argument turned tender conversation happening upstairs.

"They don't fight for long. They're so in love and with all the danger they try to avoid hurting each other. Life's too short" Caroline explained.

"I can see that." Klaus said after pondering it.

"This is just weird." Jeremy said shaking his head.

"What is?" Caroline asked.

"All of this. You and him. My sister and Damon.. When I left it was still you and Tyler, and Elena was still pining after Stefan." he said.

"Things change. People change. The only one who hasn't changed recently is Damon. He's been there for Elena since the very beginning. It's not weird to me. I've been watching Elena fall for Damon ever so slowly for the past two years. Since he fell for her." Caroline said smiling.

"You saw all that fighting and whatnot as falling in love? You should have your eyes checked." Jeremy scoffed.

"It wasn't what they did, it was how she looked at him, or the way he could make her smile when no one else could. Its been happening for the longest time. I saw it coming." she said.

"Okay. But I'm going to bed. It's been a long day." Jeremy said walking upstairs. He paused at the top of the stairs not sure of where he could go.

"There's a spare at the end of the hall." Stefan said poking his head out of his room.

"How long have you been here?" he wondered.

"All night. I've been in here." he answered.

"Oh. Thanks." Jeremy said walking to the end of the hall.

"Just let her be happy Jer. She clearly wants Damon, so just let her to that. I've let her go, maybe you should too." he told him.

"I'm trying. My sisters happiness is very important to me." he said as he walked to the bedroom and closed the door.

Early the next morning Elena woke up still wrapped in Damon's arms. She was wrapped securely and comfortably and she loved it. Trying not to wake him she pulled herself out of his embrace and pulled her clothes from the night before on. She snuck out and walked down the stairs. He couldn't know she was leaving until she was gone. It was Alaric and she had to try and save him. She started up her car which was parked in his driveway and drove the familiar distance home. When she parked outside she took a deep breath and got out of the car. The second she opened the door Alaric appeared before her.

"Elena." he said smiling.

"Alaric, we need to talk." she said.

"Are you joining the team Elena?" he asked.

"No. I'm in love with a vampire. A vampire who is your best friend." she said.

"I don't have any friends Elena. If you're not with me then you're with them. " he said.

"Alaric no. Other than Jeremy, you're my only family." she said.

"I know Elena. I know I have to protect you. So I will. I will protect you from them. Come here." he said opening his arms for her. This Alaric scared her. She didn't know how to handle him. She stayed rooted to the spot.

"Elena I won't hurt you. I promise. I cannot kill you. You've become much like a daughter to me. I couldn't harm you, but I must keep you safe. Will you let me keep you safe?" he asked. If she didn't know any better she would think he actually was trying to help. But this was a vampire that wanted nothing more than to kill her boyfriend. Her love.

"Alaric this isn't you. Damon, Stefan and Caroline aren't the problem. It's Esther." she said.

"No Esther is right. The vampires must die, only then will we be safe." he said. He took a couple steps towards her and she took a couple steps back.

"Elena, don't be afraid. I just want to protect you." he said. She continued backing up until she hit the wall and she gasped. Now she was regretting leaving Damon. If she lived through this, he was going to be so mad at her. She knew that he would give anything to make sure she was safe. There was a chance he wouldn't live through this. When Alaric was standing right in front of her, Elena felt fear. Never before in the time that she had known him had she ever felt fear.

"Please don't hurt me." she begged hoping that some semblance of the old Alaric was still there.

"Oh my dear, I won't hurt you. I just want to protect you." he said as he injected a sedative into her body causing her to fall.

Damon woke up and cursed. Throwing on some clothes he rushed downstairs.

"Have you seen Elena?" he demanded of Klaus, Caroline, Stefan and Jeremy sitting in the parlour.

"No, isn't she with you?" Jeremy asked.

"Does it look like she's with me?" he asked sarcastically, panicked.

"Where is she?" Jeremy asked.

"I have no idea. When I find her she is in so much trouble." Damon seethed as he grabbed his car keys and walked out the front door.

"Wait. I'm coming with you." Jeremy said.

"You should stay here. I know where she went. Always the martyr." he said.

"It's my sister and my guardian. I want to come." Jeremy said, on the same page Damon was on.

"Fine. But we're getting in, getting Elena, and getting out." he said.

"I will meet up with Elijah to try and find Esther. Caroline can go with you." Klaus said. Caroline nodded gravely.

"What can I do?" Stefan asked.

"Go with Klaus and Elijah in case Rebekah and Kol become an issue." Damon said. Damon left the house and drove with the pedal to the floor all the way to the Gilbert house. When they got there Damon practically leaped out of the car after shutting it off. He rushed to the door and opened it when he came face to face with the newly diabolical Alaric.


	16. Chapter 16

This is technically the last chapter, besides the epilouge which wont be too much of a wait. I couldnt think of anything else left to do with this story, and just figured it was time to end it. I hope you like the ending. it will have a happy ending with the epilouge. Let me know what you think, and then I'll hae the final part out in a few days. There are some parts about this I don't like but some I do.

PS I own nothing.

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><p>"Let her go Ric." Damon demanded.<p>

"Now why would I do that?" he asked.

"You don't want to die do you?" Damon answered trying to insert some confidence into his voice. He may sound confident but she was freaking out inside. He needed to get her out of here.

"Dying is not an option until all the vampires are dead. I'm not scared of you Damon, you cant kill me." he said.

"You don't know that. But for the sake of argument, let's say I cant. You should release her because shes the closest thing you have to family and it would kill you to kill her." he said.

"Maybe I took her hostage to get you here." Ric said shrugging his shoulders.

"Maybe you do. But release her. You can do whatever you want to me, just let her go. Please Ric." he said trying a different tactic. Hoping that maybe begging him would have an effect on him.

"You're begging me, really. Damon love really made you weak." Evil- Ric said.

"I know you're in there somewhere Ric, Elena is practically a daughter to you. Just let her go." Damon tried again.

"Yeah, let her go Ric." Jeremy said walking into the house beside Caroline.

"What is this an intervention? Ha, well its not going to work." he said.

"Just let Elena go. You can do whatever you want to me, just let her go. I promise." he said. Ric ran his fingers through his hair in obvious distress.  
>"Fine. I'll let her go, but so help me God if you're lying to me." he said releasing Elena. Elena ran over to Damon and threw herself into his arms.<br>"You're not giving yourself over to him. You're coming home with me." she said holding on to him for dear life.

"No, I'm staying here. You're leaving with them." he said shoving her away from his body.  
>"No Damon." she begged.<p>

"Elena please. I'll come home. Just go with them. Now." he said handing her over to Caroline.

"No." she screamed.

"Take her back to the boarding house." he said. Caroline and Jeremy pulled an obviously upset Elena out of the house.

"You did it. Good job. Now I get to kill you." Evil-Alaric said wielding his stake.

"You have to let me go, Caroline please." she begged quietly from the car.

"We'll wait here for a minute to wait for him, but if he doesn't come out then we're running away." Caroline acquiesced.

"I need him Care" she begged tears coursing down her face.

"I know you do. But he needs to know you're safe." Caroline argued.

"Caroline, I know what I have to do." Elena said her eyes widening.

"What?" Caroline asked wearily.

"I need to make sure he survives, but I need an insurance policy. I cant let myself die, he would never forgive me if I died." she said.  
>"Where are you going with this." Caroline asked as Jeremy eyed her wearily.<p>

"I need your blood. Just an insurance policy, I hope it wont come down to that, but I can't let him die." she said.

"Are you sure about this Elena? Is Damon worth the possibility of eternity?" Jeremy asked worried about his sister.

"Yes he is." she said sure that he couldn't hear their hushed conversation from the house.

"You should do it for her Caroline." Jeremy decided.

"Okay." Caroline acquiesced as she bit into her wrist offering it to Elena.

"Hello mother." Klaus said as he and Elijah appeared behind Esther.

"Son, I suppose you've met my hunter." she said evilly.

"I have. So do your cohorts know they're about to die?" he asked in regards to his brother and sister.

"They are not. And I would advise you not to tell them." she said.

"No, I'm here to deal with you Esther. You see, I've been known to be ruthless. I have no problem killing you permanently this time." Klaus threatened.

"You couldn't kill your own mother, son. You've softened." she said confidently.

"Not really. You see you're trying to rid the world of vampires. I could care less about the others, but Caroline means something to me. I will not let you have her killed." he said.

"She may already be." Esther said.

"No, she's not. Caroline is fine. She's with Damon." he said.

"Maybe Damon's dead." Esther tried.

"He's saving the doppelganger. He wont die without saving her." Klaus said confidently.

"Maybe he died saving her. You do know that the hunters life is tied to the doppelgangers. She dies, he dies." she said.

"It's not going to work Esther. I am going to tear your heart from your chest. I am here to kill you. And we're going to have to find another way to kill the hunter, the doppelganger is untouchable. It's part of the agreement." he said.

"Elijah, please. I'm your mother." Esther said turning towards Elijah, pleading.

"No mother. I have chosen my allegiance. I will not turn on them." he said firmly.

"But Elijah, you were always my favourite." she begged.

"Not going to work mother. You tried to kill all of us. You're trying to kill your own children." he said shaking his head.

"Rebekah. Kol." she tried to the two ancient vampires who just appeared.

"I have always sided with Nik. I will continue siding with Nik. We are a team, granted I haven't liked his new team thing he doing,. But he's still my brother and he's still my partner." she explained.

"But I'm your mother sweetheart. That should count for something." she begged.

"No, it was me and Nik always. Until he stabbed me with a dagger and placed me in a coffin that is. But its still me and him." she said standing beside her brother.

"I'm with Rebekah." Kol said.

"Even if you kill me, my hunter will not stop until all vampires are dead." she said laughing mirthlessly.

"Once you're dead, we can focus our attentions on the hunter." Klaus said taking a deadly step towards his mother.

"Nik, please." she begged understanding now that there was no one to help her.  
>"No more Nik please. Its time for you to die." he said shoving his hand into her chest and yanking out her heart. Esther fell to the ground dead and Klaus tossed the heart onto the ground, wiping his hands on the ground. Klaus nodded to Elijah and the two of them along with Stefan walked away leaving Rebekah and Kol alone.<p>

"I assume you two will be leaving now?" Elijah asked.

"Yes, we are leaving." Kol said about him and Rebekah.

"You're running from the fight?" Klaus clarified.

"We are not suicidal Nik. I wish you would join us." she said.

"I have something to fight for here Rebekah. I must stay. You run." he said.

"I will. Perhaps we'll see each other again." she said as her and Kol disappeared from sight.

"Let's go back to the boarding house. Perhaps Damon, Caroline and little Gilbert have found Elena by now." Klaus said getting into the car and driving towards the boarding house.

Back in the Gilbert house Alaric was throwing Damon threw walls and furniture. There were cuts and abrasions all over his body and Alaric was merely playing with him. Granted he got a few good hits in, but it was clear that Evil-Alaric was winning this fight.

"Are you ready to die yet?" he asked as Damon slumped against the wall after being thrown through a bookshelf.

"Screw you." he said shoving a makeshift stake through his stomach. Alaric howled in pain and doubled over giving Damon time to heal some of his wounds. He just hoped that Caroline got Elena and Jeremy out of here, before it got really ugly.

"We have to go in there Care. I cant hear anything." Elena said tugging on Caroline's arm.

"We can't. I told him I would keep you safe." she said.

"You did by giving me your blood. Please Care, I need to make sure he's okay." she said.

"If I hear anything I'll let you go, but until then, you have to stay here." Caroline said.

"God. I hate not knowing. I hate not knowing if he's alive, or if I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. I love him Caroline. I've never felt like this before." she said. Jeremy put his arm around his sister as they drove around the block again needing to keep moving in case something happened.

"Do you hear anything?" Elena asked.

"No. But then the only things I heard before were things breaking." she said.

"But that was good, because that meant that he was still alive." she said.

"Oh my God." Caroline said as she checked her text messages while stopped at a stop sign.

"What?" Elena asked.

"Esther is a sneaky bitch. She tied your life to Alaric's. You die, he dies. At least that's what Klaus says." she said.

"Are you sure he dies? Elena asked.

"I don't know for sure. Maybe the evil dies. But either way, we're not letting you die. We'll have to find another way to kill Evil-Alaric." she said.

"Elena nodded knowing she was right. Suicide missions would no doubt get her in trouble with Damon.

"Prepare to die." Alaric said as he threw Damon through the one left over table in the Gilbert house.

"Screw you." Damon said again. He was getting weaker, and it seemed like Alaric was getting stronger. Guess it was just fitting that the man he killed twice would kill him in the end. It was only fair.

"Do not hurt Elena, she's been through too much." Damon said not moving from the shattered table he was laying on.

"Elena will be safe." he promised.

When they drove out in front of the house once more they seen a shadow of Alaric holding a stake over what she assumed was Damon's body.

"No Caroline I have to get out." she said.

"Elena no." Caroline begged.

"I have to. He's going to kill him." she said opening the door and leaping out. Using speed she didn't even know she had, she rushed into the house and into the destroyed living room where Alaric was poised to kill Damon. Without even thinking about it, knowing deep down she had the vampire blood in her system as her guarantee, she threw herself between Damon and the stake that was inching closer to Damon already battered chest.

"No." she screamed as she threw herself on top of Damon causing the wooden stake to go through her human heart.

"No." Damon yelled as Alaric fell to the ground beside him. Damon tried everything he could think of, he tried CPR, he tried forcing blood down her throat, but she was dead.

"No." Alaric said before he collapsed on the ground dead as well. His life was tied to the doppelgangers, and since she was dead he was too. For the first time in a long time he felt a wave of tears well up in his eyes and this time he let them fall. The love of his life was dead in his arms. He heard the sounds of Caroline and Jeremy rush into the house.

"Oh my God." Caroline said seeing her body in Damon's arm.

"I tried to save her, but I couldn't." he said, his voice breaking at the end.

"She'll be fine." Caroline said tears running down her face.

"How can you say that? She's dead. Elena is dead because of me." he said.

"She took my blood before she came in here. She said it was an insurance policy to make sure you two got to still be together. She loves you Damon and if this was the only way she could be with you, then that's what she will do." Caroline explained. Damon kissed her forehead, relief coursing through him. He wasn't anywhere near ready to lose her. He needed her.

"We should get her to the boarding house. I don't want her to wake up here." he said struggling to get up with her in his arms.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy asked.

"I'll be fine once Elena wakes up." he said.

"No, physically?" Jeremy asked.

"I've been better. I'm sure once she wakes up and completes the transition I'll be super pissed at her." he said

"You should be." Caroline said as she got behind the wheel of Damon's Camaro and Jeremy into the passenger side. Damon got in the backseat, still cradling Elena's body.

When they got back to the boarding house Caroline seen Klaus's car outside and sighed in relief. She rushed into the house and seen them all sitting around in the parlour drinking.

"Oh thank God you're okay." she said hugging him.

"I'm fine darling. Are you okay?" he asked noticing the tears falling down her cheeks. She turned her head to see Damon carrying Elena into the house. He was bruised and broken, but he carried her into that house and towards the stairs.

"What happened?" Stefan asked rushing over and seeing the gaping hole in her chest.

"Alaric. She leaped in front of a stake for me. Stupid girl." he said kissing her forehead tenderly.

"Is she?" he asked.

"She took Caroline's blood. She's going to be a vampire." he said.

"That's the last thing I wanted for her." Stefan said shifting his gaze downward.

"Me too. But if its the only way I get to keep her then so be it. I love her too much to lose her. I want to get her upstairs. I want her to be comfortable when she returns to me." he said.

"Do you need anything?" Stefan asked.

"Lots of blood. For me and for her when she wakes." he said as he carried her up the stairs to his room where he laid her down on the bed. Her eyes were closed and she looked beautiful, even in death. He crawled in beside her as he awaited his blood. Stefan brought the blood up to him and handed Damon a few bags, leaving the others on the nightstand before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. Damon downed the blood quickly and found himself feeling better almost immediately. It was silent in the room until he heard a gasp coming from beside him. He turned his head to see Elena's eyes snap open.


	17. Chapter 17

This is it. This story is finally finished. I hope you all like the ending, its definitely not my best writing but the dumb chapter resisted all my attempts at rewriting. Thank you for all the support this story has had. Thank you so much. if anyone is interested I have started an original novel over on Fictionpress. I would love to be published sometime so that story is an experiment to see if my original writing has any promise. my pen name is the same, and the story is called hard to love if you want to check it out.

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><p>"So what happened?" Elena asked a few days later.<p>

"When you jumped in front of a stake for me and you died. Alaric died. Esther tied your life to his and he died. We're burying him today. I wanted to wait until you were stable before we did anything." he said softly.

"Ric is dead?" she asked sinking to the couch behind her.

"I'm sorry." Damon said.

"It's not your fault. It's just he was my final guardian. All my parents, Jenna and Alaric are dead. Essentially I'm alone now, for eternity." she said.

"No you're not. You have me and you have everyone else who loves you. The danger is all done and finally the doppelganger is safe." Damon said kissing her temple tenderly.

"When is the funeral?" she asked.

"A couple hours. You should go get ready. You and I still have to have a conversation about your stupid act." he said crossing his arms across his chest.

"I'm still here aren't I?" she asked.

"Yes, but as the thing I never wanted you to become." he said still angry.

"It had to happen. It was the only way we could still be together. I need you Damon, and if Ric killed you... it would have killed me too. I haven't had you nearly long enough for you to just disappear from my life." she said caressing his face.

"This discussion wasn't nearly as long as I thought it would be. You're forgiven only because at least you were smart enough to jump in front of a stake with vampire blood in your system. You wouldn't even be here for me to be mad at if you hadn't." he said.

"Good. Don't be mad at me. It'll get you nowhere because now I can fight back." she said smiling.

"You can. But you should go get ready. Everyone will be at the cemetery in about an hour." he said.

"Fine. You sure know how to ruin a mood." Elena said standing up and walking towards the stairs.

The boarding house was more or less home now, since the Gilbert house was destroyed in the battle. She walked up the stairs and ran into Jeremy on her way to the bedroom she now shared with Damon.

"Getting ready?" he asked her.

"Yeah. How are you Jer?" she asked.

"I'm fine. It just sucks you know." he said.

"Yeah. I know how you feel. He was our final guardian. Now we only have each other." she said.

"I love you Elena. I'm so happy you're still here with me." Jeremy said, in an uncharacteristic act of love he hugged his sister tightly. She hugged him back and let a few tears escape.

"I love you too Jer." she said and broke away from him. She was fairly confident in her ability to not attack him, but didn't want to take any chances.

"I'll meet you downstairs." Jeremy said softly. Elena nodded and walked into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

"So how's she doing? I mean I know I live here with you and all, but I still don't know. She doesn't talk to me or count on me anymore." Jeremy said when he walked into the parlour where Damon was nursing a glass of good bourbon dressed in his black suit.

"You know she's just trying to protect you, right?" Damon asked not answering any of Jeremy's questions.

"I know that. I know its been a hard adjustment for her and she worried that she'll hurt me. But I'm not afraid of her. I want her to know that." Jeremy said.

"She does now. You forget about super vamp hearing." Damon said.

"I didn't forget. She won't let me tell her, so I figure her overhearing it isn't a bad thing. But you never answered my question. How is she doing?" he asked.

"She's coping. She never wanted this. But it ended up being her choice so that's all the really matters. She'll be fine. Just keep on doing what you're doing and I'll keep doing what I'm doing. Just keep in mind today is her first day out. She hasn't left the house and she hasn't seen anyone other than you and me. So she may be a little antsy." Damon said.

"That's what she has you for. Between the grief of losing Ric and the changes going on inside her, its got to be an overwhelming time for her." Jeremy said.

"It is. But I hear her coming." he said. Jeremy nodded taking that as his cue to shut up about her.

"Are we ready to go?" she asked coming downstairs in a black dress with some black high heeled shoes on.

"If you are." Damon said grasping her hand tightly in his. She nodded solemnly and took a deep breath that wasn't strictly necessary.

"Don't let me go." she begged of him and tightened her grip on his hand. He kissed her temple and the three of them left the house. Elena was surprised by the large group of people who came out to pay their respects. There was Sheriff Forbes and Mayor Lockwood standing on one side. The rest of the teachers from the school where there too. Caroline had her arms wrapped around her suitably bored looking hybrid boyfriend. Klaus definitely looked out of place at the funeral. It was only a few months back that he was the big bad they had to worry about. He had never warmed up to Alaric. Bonnie was standing beside her. Elijah stood next to his brother. Matt stood stiffly beside Bonnie- the final fully human person in their group. Stefan stood beside him and Tyler rounded out the group standing next to Stefan, as far as possible from Klaus and Caroline. Elena, Jeremy and Damon walked over to stand by the coffin which was waiting to be buried in the earth. Elena laid her head on Damon's shoulder and squeezed Jeremy's hand in silent comfort. Out of everyone there, the three of them had loved Ric more than anyone.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the life and say goodbye to Alaric Saltzman. He was many things, a teacher, a friend, a guardian, a confidant. But he wouldn't want you all to stand here crying over him. He would want you all to celebrate the life he lived. Alaric was a dedicated history teacher. He loved his job. He loved spending his day teaching teenagers the merits of the past. But now he would want you all to live in the future rather than disappearing into the past. Life is too hard not to move forward. Alaric was a good man, and a trusted member of the founders council. I know all of us will miss him dearly. Do not be sad that his life his over, rejoice in the moments you all had together. Rejoice in all the great moments, the laughter and the encouragement. He would not want you broken over this. The minister nodded at Elena who pulled herself away from Damon's arm to grab a handful of soil to dump onto the coffin. Jeremy followed her and the minister gestured for Damon to do one as well.

"You were practically family the way he spoke so highly of you." he said. Damon smiled and nearly scoffed remembering the two times he killed him. He wasn't going to voice those occurrences though. When the ceremony was over everyone started walking away.

"You look good Elena." Caroline said hugging her friend.

"Thank you. I'm adjusting." she said softly.

"You're doing better than I did." Caroline said smiling.

"Thank you. Uh there are refreshments and food at the boarding house for everyone." Elena said clasping Damon's hand tightly. She would be more comfortable when they got back to the boarding house.

"Cool. Klaus and I will come by, I'm sure everyone else will too." Caroline said smiling. Elena nodded and turned to Damon.

"Take me home, please. I'm feeling uncomfortable." she said unsure of how to voice how she was feeling to Damon. He nodded understanding her need to get out of there. The blood lust was getting to be hard on her, she hadn't spent this much time in public since she'd been turned. Actually she hadn't left the house since she turned.

"Are you coming with us Jeremy, or are you coming with Caroline?"Damon asked.

"You're leaving?" Jeremy asked shocked.

"We have too. Elena is..." he said trailing off.

"Oh right. I'll come with you." he said following them to the car.

When they got back to the house Elena practically flew inside and guzzled down several bags of blood.

"Are you okay?"" Damon asked.

"I am now. That was horrible. The funeral and the thirst was too much today." she said wiping away a tear before wrapping her arms around him.

"It'll be okay." he said kissing her head.

"I'm scared. I could hurt someone so easily. I wanted to today. I could picture myself tearing into any of the humans necks while we were at the cemetery." she cried.

"But you didn't. You were strong. You are stronger than you know Elena, you just need to believe that. And even when you're not strong, I will be for you. I will never leave your side." he promised her. She cried into his chest some more, and he held her. He knew she was carrying around so much stress and pain right now and if she needed to cry for a while he was more than willing to let her cry. They held each other for a few minutes before the front door opened and people started filing in for the refreshments Elena promised. She pulled away and wiped her eyes surreptitiously, but she never left his side. Her arms wrapped around his arm and hugged it tightly to her body. After a couple hours the "I'm sorry for you loss's" and the "he will be missed" started wearing on Elena. She kissed Damon's cheek and let go of his arm disappearing upstairs. He watched her go and heard the bedroom door shut. He knew she needed some time alone. Ric was the final guardian she had, the sixth parental figure she lost. Grayson and Miranda. Isobel and John. Jenna and Alaric. She needed to get past that.

"Where's Elena?" Jeremy asked concerned for his sister.

"She's upstairs. I was thinking I'd take her away for a while. Just until she finds herself. She needs to get away from this town filled with so much death and despair for her." Damon whispered not wanting Elena to hear his plan.

"That will be good for here. Where?" Jeremy asked agreeing with Damon's notion.

"I don't know. Somewhere far away. Somewhere where she can learn to be a vampire but not worry about hurting you in the process. Somewhere she can finally start feeling safe again and where she can relax for the first time in years." Damon said.

"That's a good idea." Jeremy agreed.

When everyone left the evening, Damon walked upstairs slowly and opened the bedroom door.

"Elena?" he asked not wanting to scare her.

"Hey." she said from her spot curled up on her side on the bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked kissing her head.

"Like a failure. I couldn't even be with my friends and family without wanting to kill them." she wept.

"You're not a failure, and these feelings of uncertainty are normal. I had an idea." he said.

"What kind of idea/" she asked rolling over so she could face him.  
>"Something to make you feel better." he said kissing the tip of her nose.<p>

"What?" she asked eager for any solution.

"We're going way. You and me." he said.

"Where? For how long?" she asked.

"Wherever you want as long as its far away from here. And until you're better. I already ran it by Jeremy and he thinks its a great idea." he said.

"He does?" she asked.

"Yep. He thinks it will make you feel better too. We think it'll be good to get you away from this town for a while. You've seen too much death for someone so young." Damon said brushing his lips over her face.

"You're right." she said.

"So are we going?" he asked hopefully.

"If you think it will fix me then yes." she said.

"It will fix you. I'll make sure of it. But you aren't broken baby. You're just unsure and scared. Time will make it better." he promised her.

"When do we go?" she asked.

"As soon as possible. If you want to leave tonight we can." Damon told her. For the first time in a while Elena smiled. Her grin lit up the room and made him smile at her the same way.

"Let's go say goodbye to everyone and leave now." Elena said sitting up.

When the goodbyes were done, Damon ushered Elena into his car and they drove away from the house and away from Mystic Falls. Everything that happened over the past few years was in their rear view mirror and eternity ahead of them. They had an eternity to make everything better. They had an eternity to be together. All of this started with one kiss on a porch. Looking back to where they were a couple months back, neither would change it. Because that one perfect moment on a porch changed everything. They drove on ahead with eternity in the horizon, just the two of them.


End file.
